Dolphin Hero
by Dolphinsiren - Novasupernova
Summary: KIBBS...KIBBS...KIBBS...The NCIS is in San Diego, to investigate the death of a marine and...a dolphin!
1. Chapter 1

"**Dolphin Hero" Chapter 1**

**KIBBS, FOR SURE!!!**

_**A/N: This story is written to honor the dolphins that find death giving support to combat and surveillance activities around the world. Their death occurs rarely in the line of duty, but frequent from stress in training and transporting activities.**_

_**The Navy Marine Mammal Project exists in real life and has been resisted by many organizations for animal welfare.**_

_**For the last few years the Navy has improved maintenance conditions and accepts advice from experts, therefore mortality had been dramatically reduced, but a question arises:**_

_**COULD WE HUMANS, INVOLVE THE CUSP OF INTELLIGENCE THAT FOLLOWS US ON EARTH, IN OUR OWN WARS AND FIGHTS?**_

_**WHO GAVE US THIS RIGHT?**_

_**IT WAS NOT GOD, SURELY. **_

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The sunset is as glorious as ever, at the end of a warm and calm day. The sun is sinking into the sea like a giant splendid and incandescent fruit. The flat rays enlightening sea and sky in a symphony of oranges and purples.

She runs, climbing the last ascending curve of the sandy road, holding a medium-fast but powerful pace, enjoying the final aerobic phase of her daily run. She needs it, especially today.

Seconds go by slowly and stop. Time is suspended into the light, the incredible golden disc freezes touching the blurred horizon at the edge of the firing water.

She runs, inside her own bubble of sound from her iPod, the sunset light surrounds her. Keeping an easy breath, deep and fast, she breathes into the light air.

Sweat is sliding down her neck, soaking her shirt and she does not notice. She feels comfortable running towards the sun, her feet do not touch the earth, time is not real. She runs. Suddenly… this_ fucking_ noise.

And her universe is broken.

Bypassing the loud music in her audio phones, the powerful sound of a chopper is approaching from the East. The massive dark silhouette profiles against the glorious gold and purple tapestry of the dying sun.

The helicopter passes over her, flying much too low as always they do, gyring slowly, greedily, the ominous mass over flies her and goes to take land at the heliport behind the dune. She slows down, cursing between her teeth; waiting for what she knows is coming.

The mass of air trapped between the road and the sand wall of the dune, faces her. Sand grains strike her anti reflective glasses and the furious air whirling in front of her captures her cap into the ascendant column of air.

She looks up, cursing the pilots again while feeling her lax chignon untying lazily and her free hair flies uncomfortably over her eyes and settles its copper mass on her sweat-soaked neck and shoulders. She curses again as she catches her cap.

Damn it! The fluorescent yellow vest is visible enough in the sunset light!! What are they playing at? She runs the last two hundreds meters at her best speed, thinking only of the fresh water down her throat and a warm shower over her heated skin.

Entering the facilities, she indulges herself in her little daily fun and jumps over the security barrier getting the awaited admiring smile from the marine guard, she smiles at him briefly and her eyes go over the heliport, the chopper is poised like a giant dragonfly with the position lights shinning and rotors still going slow.

Three persons (civilians) are descending, keeping their heads down, looking at the concrete floor as it must be, and "Maybe they are not civilians"

They are going to shake hands with the CO who stands straight as a stick at the edge of the white circle.

"You bastard", she curses at the CO and gains to her own domain, not turning her head around, entering safely to the cold fluorescent light and the buzz of her aquaria; her peaceful universe.

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The "Marine Mammal Project" facilities are builtat the seaside; white flat buildings surround sea pens and pools. The enclosed seawater mirrors the sun, an incandescent orange.

Despite the noise of the rotors and the helicopter turbulence trip, Kate has been drowsy since they flew from San Diego Airport. She has a headache. That's why the howl from her sexist teammate to someone on the ground is more annoying than ever.

She opens her closed eyes and frowns at him, shaking her head disapprovingly at his shouted words:

"Wowwww!!! _Those_ are good pair of legs, Kate! There is nothing to do at the happy hour here but run alone??? I could suggest a couple of ideas!!!" Tony winks at the co-pilot with a chuckle. "Hey buddy!!! What about being trapped between those legs! It would be…"

"Keep your mouth shut, Tony!!!" hisses Kate, "your words are incredibly sexist and out of place!"

She is disturbed by the chauvinism he shows as well as by the fact the pilots have heard him through the audio phones. The co-pilot, obviously the lower ranked of them, and the younger, seems to share his opinion.

"Damn men" Kate curses.

But the officer laughs briefly and says: "Don't even try with her! She is a hard ass! With very high positioned friends! Forget it, boy!" And he returns to the control panel of the chopper.

While this conversation took place, Kate noted a slight movement from her right. Gibbs stretches himself and straightens in his seat, sending a casual glance down the road as they fly over the runner.

He caught the flashing color of the yellow vest and the copper shine of flying hair. With no word he reaches his hand over the pilot's seat and the younger officer puts a cup of coffee in it with his thumb up.

He takes a sip, looks at Kate and sees her scowl. His eyes smooth as he focuses on her. "You OK?" he asks in this low "taking care" voice that he reserves exclusively for her.

"I'm fine, Gibbs" She nods with a little smile. She forgets about Tony; her boss is talking to her, asking about her comfort. She is fine.

How could he sleep in a flying chopper? She wonders, he also sleeps on Ducky's autopsy table, under his boat and who knows how many other uncomfortable places.

She looks at him with a bit of envy and feels like an alien between the four of them. Men are strange creatures, Kate thinks.

The sun had gone minutes ago and the small window shows the first star, the silver spot shining in the sky, still pale and stained with the colors of sunset.

Dr. Sedna Dunn closes the shower curtain and drains the excess of water from her hair, then steps out of the cramped cubicle and lets her wet hair drop along her back wrapping a soft blue towel around her body. Her wet skin makes the body lotion spread easily as she massages her limbs and shoulders thoroughly.

Maybe she could indulge herself in a beer tonight, with some luck they could have Guinness again. She expected her friend Monique to come over, but something came up; if she decided to come, she would have been there before she went for her run.

"Yes, a beer and an early dinner before sleep would be a good medicine to help her stop thinking about Kenny's body on the autopsy table of some anonymous navy forensic bastards!", cursing again, she recalls her earlier meeting with the CO this morning.

Her CO knows as well as her, that the dolphin's autopsy should have been done by her, and he let NCIS take the corpse to D.C. He should have requested her presence for the procedure but he didn't.

She recalls the conversation: "That is not my decision, Dunn, obviously much less yours", he said laconically and bad humouredly. "I have my orders and that's it! " Her CO used to consider her as military staff under his command, he was soooo wrong. She still hears his words.

He just had obeyed his orders, Sir!

Yes sir!

And so must she! Sir! Yes sir

And call to your admiral friends, no fair play sir. No sir…

And tomorrow she must receive a team from NCIS, Washington DC and make their job easy, yes sireeeee, Dunn mocks herself and her CO, while drying herself.

She had stayed in front of him, hands at her sides. She nevercrosses her arms; to him it means that you need to protect yourself from his words or attitude, whatever. No readable expression emerges at her face while waiting for him to end the meeting. She took advantage from his pause to say.

"OK, Sir" and before he could reply she had turned around and faced the door, opened it and went outside.

She didn't need to watch his face to know he was shaking his head to her back, but he didn't call her. He knows well that it doesn't work and they fact that they had slept together,didn't change a thing and he is "BAD" in bed, by the way.

From the bathroom she hears three taps on the window of her office, followed by Steve's voice, the security guard stationed on the main entrance "Hey, Doc, you have visitors!!!" He shouts as usual, opening the door and letting the visitor inside.

"Thanks Steve!" She bellows from her room. She hears the door close and she steps outside.

She wraps her towel tighter and goes to the next room, her office. Finally Monique is here, she thought the girl has a terrible sense of TIME!

"Good, Guinness is waiting" She finds herself standing at the entrance of her office (in her towel, shit!) facing three unexpected guys, actually two men and a woman.

Suddenly she is conscious of her damp hair, excess water dripping over the floor by her bare feet, her skin still flushed by the heat of the hot shower and the fact she is standing almost nude facing the God damn guys from NCIS!

She is NOT giving them the advantage of running out of their view. From what she can see, they seem to be more disturbed by the "funny towel only" incident than she is. So, she stands still, looking at them with a little smile and her eyes shining.

She steps closer to the oldest one, who is one step in front of the others in the middle of them. "Obviously, the Leader" she tells herself, almost as old as her CO "And much more intimidating… hmm"

"The leader" is looking at her politely, right into her eyes, ignoring her attire (or her lack of it). She is used to manage people; she is very good at analyzing human behavior, but can't help avoiding trembling just a little bit from inside under his stern gaze.

"Hell, those eyes", bright and deep blue, piercing and professionally unreadable, he's an interrogator and a damn it good one," she acknowledges. Despite his civilian clothes, a pale sport coat over a blue shirt, there is something very "military" about him.

"His posture and complexion, his weird 'GI' haircut, the immaculate white T-shirt under his shirt 'A former Marine,' Dunn guesses, "dangerous and attractive too".

The younger man is now looking at her and her dripping wet body, mouth opened, not even trying to hide that he likes what he sees.

"Civilian" Dunn bets, relaxed attitude, fashionable informal clothes: jeans and an expensive leather coat. A nice stylish haircut, unlike the leader. He smiles, perfect teeth, his eyes slide down her features stopping at each curve of her towel. She laughs to herself. "Jerk, just try me "

And the woman:

The pretty brunette in apple green sweater and white pants, one step behind her boss but standing closer to him than her buddy; hmmm she feels safe with the leader, Dunn can feel it, she is the boss' "protégé", sharp, but definitely kind. The woman is small built: her eyes are at a level with hers and thin, but it is certain she uses her gun with the same efficiency than her male buddies and is able to fight as well.

The flush on her cheeks shows some shy nature, she is certainly familiar with the tendencies of her young teammate and maybe imaging his little dirty thoughts about what is under the blue towel.

Breaking the silence the former marine shows his ID: "NCIS, Special Agent Gibbs and Special Agents Todd and DiNozzo"

Sedna looks critically at the photo on his ID card, and briefly studies the hand that holds it: large palms, long fingers used to handiwork, nails short and clean, rough.

"OK, although it doesn't seem that I'm…"

"Dr. Dunn I presume" says the "Latin lover", attracting a glance from his boss that reduces him to silence.

"Sedna Dunn, I was waiting for you, I thought you'd arrive tomorrow. Forgive me if I don't shake hands, I'm soaked in body lotion, with the sun and all, have to take care of…you know? Wait just a moment, I'll get dressed"

"OH Yes, I know, don't worry about…you look very good in this…" starts Sir Lancelot again but his words are interrupted dryly by the barked:

"DiNozzo!!!" And his boss slaps the back of his head, hard!

Sedna disappears behind the door and closes it noiselessly. The three of them sigh. Kate shakes her head at "sorry, Dinozzo"

DiNozzo murmurs to his boss: "The CO was right, Boss! She "IS" mad! What kind of woman greets unknown people in just a_ towel?_ And feels comfortable?"

Gibbs looks at Kate, who is just thinking what to say (after all she is his profiler): "I don't think that's what her CO meant, DINOZZO!!!" She snaps at him and looks back to her boss

"One extremely 'self confident', Kate?" Gibbs asks her.

And Kate answers with her affirmative nod and her boss with his personal smirk, nods. "I knew it"

Gibbs thought to himself again"women are not hard to figure out, unless you already slept with them…" he scratches his head absent mindedly.

"Focus, Jethro!" He scolds himself. Kate is standing very close to him and he can smell the fragrance of her shampoo- not good for his concentration.

He looks around, the yellow vest is hanging from the chair and over the desk is the blue cap with "NAVY" in white characters. Now he knows_ who_ the runner was and Gibbs smirks recalling what the pilot had done on purpose. It lets him guess a lot about her.

He knows how the Navy guys react to civilian authorities and she IS the authority there: "Give her the treatment she deserves and you'll have her_ at_ your side, Jethro, after all she is in charge of the NMMP and no one but her can help them to solve this strangecase." He finds himself sniffing the smell of coffee. There is a coffee pot on the desk and it smells like "real coffee"; no mugs or cups around, bloody annoying.

He is_ dying_ for coffee.

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He notes a slight movement from his left and looks up, Dunn was standing in the door frame (she opens doors really silently) holding three cups and smirking at him. Fortunately, she is dressed. "Seems like you need one of these…." Dunn hands one to him, "Help yourself, please, I was sure you prefer black"

He mirrors her smirk and reaches for the cup. "Sure thanks"

Sedna looks at the others: "The same for you, milk and sugar over there"

Kate denies politely with a smile "No, thanks, no coffee in the evening. I wouldn't be able to sleep"

Sedna smiles openly to her."Yeah, I know. It's the same for me. And you, DiNozzo? "

He is startled, not because she remembered his last name perfectly, but because he had been looking eagerly at her shorts and white sweatshirt with no bra.

"Eeee, yes, I'll get sugar and milk, thanks"

"I've two guest bedrooms here for both of you guys. Don't think you care to share," she laughs in her heart as Gibbs rolls his eyes.

"And you can use my bedroom, Kate" Dunn says

"No, no, don't worry" Sedna interrupts Kate's protesting words

"I am used to sleeping in my boat, believe me, and it is more comfortable than here and not far, she is equipped as oceanographic vessel. I've satellite TV and internet also." She notes the glint of interest in Gibbs's eyes, and she continues: "not too big, she's twenty four meters long and the captain's cabin is pretty comfy."

"Wow, boss!" Says DiNozzo with a stupid - thinks Gibbs - laugh, "you couldn't build that one in your basement!" Sedna gives Tony a weird look.

"You can have this vacant desk." She clears the table's surface while talking, "There's the wireless connection, no access to classified material from here, sorry but I guess you'd get your own connecting to your HQ. You can ask for your dinner by dialing 0121, that phone; or you can call delivery and get a decent dinner in minutes, there is a list on my desk. I suggest the last one for tonight unless you all like "toasted" chicken from the base menu."

Gibbs points the desk with a sharp head movement: "Kate, Tony, HQ, I want to talk to Abby and Ducky."

They nod and say: "Got it, Gibbs" "Got it, Boss".

He gets his stuff and heads down the corridor facing Dunn and giving her an imperceptible smile:

She stops him with a little touch on his arm and looks up at his now less scary eyes. "Ducky, you mean Dr Mallard?"

Gibbs notes the touch of emotion and hope in her normally controlled voice and answers quietly: "Yes, Dr Mallard. You know him?" making an affirmation rather than a question he looks down at her intently.

"Yeah I do, 'know' is not the exact word." Her smile is open and warm now.

"He was a very close friend of my father, almost an uncle for me. I lost contact after daddy passed away, fifteen years ago."

Kate has followed the entire conversation as she sets the laptop and files on desk. She notes the change in Dr Dunn's attitude and disposition to them, from the very moment that Gibbs mentioned Ducky, she became warm and confident. Before she was polite and correct and cold.

She sees - even from her place - the unique golden color of Sedna eyes getting dark, her pupils dilated. She changed, she was excited about something, and she is WITH THEM from now. Gibbs changed too. His voice is less professional and kinder now:

"Tomorrow, we'll interview all the MMP staff, would you arrange that, Doc?"

"Most of them, except the SEALS," Dunn quickly replies, "You guys have to ask the CO about them," she pauses a second, then says "Press 0012, it's his direct line" She smirks again, looking up to Gibbs with a glint of revenge in her eyes.

"Wake the damn bastard, he goes to bed with the birds! See you tomorrow, Special Agents, enjoy yourself, the coffee is in the second box, just in case you want make fresh stuff, get water from the dispenser, and don't drink the tap water. Goodnight!"

Gibbs nods and keeps silent, looking at her closing the door and smiles.

Oh yes…sure, women are predictable, till the moment you sleep with.

Men - are the complete opposite.

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-Tbc-dolphinsiren-novasupernova/2007/BETA (MV)


	2. Chapter 2

"**Dolphin Hero" Chapter 2**

Kate is tossing on the bed. San Diego is totally different from DC, it is much warmer. She loves warm weather but she guesses she is just not used to the change or perhaps it is not the weather. As an ex Secret Service, change and traveling are the main parts of her job.

That night, there is something worse, it is NOT the weather, it is NOT nature! It is DiNozzo's snoring…incredibly loud!

She can hear it very clearly from Dr. Dunn's chamber; he sounds like a vacuum cleaner - poor Gibbs, she thinks. Kate tries to ignore the disturbing snores, but a few minutes later, she has enough. She exhales angrily, slips on her short shorts and storms out from the room.

"Bloody Tony." She is muttering under her breath only to be stopped by what seems to be her boss. "Oh, Gibbs, you are not asleep yet?" It is almost two in the morning, and then Kate sees his incredulous look.

"Don't worry, Gibbs, I'll take care of it." Kate said to her boss as she paces into the adjacent room.

Gibbs is just looking at his female agent, stunned because of her action, sure, but that's not all, he also witnesses how charming and delicious she looks with her bed hair, tank top and shorts, coming out from Dunn's room, bothered by DiNozzo's snores. She looks ravishing, Gibbs thinks.

His straying lewd mind is disturbed by a howl of pain coming from the room, it is DiNozzo's howl of pain, and what on earth did she do to him? He wonders and smiles, she never ceases to amaze him.

His Katie must be kicking Tony's ass, to stop him from snoring, and then his smile breaks into a laugh, imagining her fiery nature…never his to be enjoyed, Gibbs realizes sadly. His melancholy is disturbed.

"OK, Gibbs, done! Please! You can sleep now. I guarantee his snores won't bother you anymore." She talks to him sympathetically as she walks across to where he is sitting to go back to her room, then something caught her attention from his laptop screen and Kate stares at the screen.

A few seconds later:

"Kate…" Gibbs calls her. She ignores her boss, engrossed in what she is reading.

"Katie!" Gibbs tries again, this time more serious.

Kate is used to his tone. "What, Gibbs?" She replies, ignoring his call - this is interesting - as she keeps reading from the screen.

"It's confidential, Kate." He replies without trying to block her view.

"I know, Gibbs, so? You can read it, so can I, right, Gibbs?" she smiles cheekily.

"NCIS is already in your blood." Her boss mummers to himself.

Gibbs is distracting himself…from her, from his Katie. Oh bloody hell she is NOT his!

She is closing in on him, too close, much too close for his comfort to his personal space as she tries to read more on Dunn's profile. Her chocolate wavy locks brush his shoulder and more.

Kate is aware of his masculine presence, his smell and GOD! His masculine spicy fragrance. Dunn's profile distracts her for a while, though.

"WOW, Gibbs! She is…YOU! A female version!" she exclaims, but Gibbs doesn't answer.

"Scoot, Gibbs!" Kate says as she nudges him with her hip, she wants to sit and focus on Dunn's profile, she is_ his_ profiler anyway and Dunn's life seems to be fascinating compared to hers.

Gibbs willingly moves over to the next seat, too surprised to scold her, he could never slap her head like he always does to DiNozzo. While Kate is absorbed by what she is reading, the light from the screen illuminates her facial features and Gibbs's gaze is glued to her: even with no make up, she is beautiful to him, fresh like a bloomed flower, young, just ready to be picked, but not his to keep.

For about ten minutes or so, Kate is engrossed in Dunn's achievements, life and (unfortunately) failures. Her life has been amazing but strange, she keeps nodding her face in approval, and she mutters "Damn, she's been around."

"What are you so fascinated about, Katie?" Gibbs starts to wonder, he is so relaxed that he calls her Katie. He relaxed his posture, lying against the chair rest, hands supporting his head.

"Would you look at this? OK, let me profile her." Kate is concentrating, her index finger busy tapping the scroll pad.

"She is obviously NOT afraid to try, to change…you know, to be different, Dunn couldn't care less what people think about her. As we saw the first time we met her…in a towel." Kate starts.

Gibbs looks at her, waiting, not too sure what she means, except for the towel thing that was blatantly clear.

"Here, Gibbs, when she was in her thirties, she changed her major, from humans to marine mammals, switched to a completely different species, don't you think it is crazy? Well, not crazy, but…strange, but GOOD! That was a major decision, Gibbs." Kate couldn't find the words she is looking for; she is excited, being able to delve into Dunn's life.

Kate goes on while Gibbs is just looking at her. "Look, Gibbs, she became a widow twice…well, you did better, you are divorced thrice, but what's one more to go, she could easily reach your number." Kate grins.

"Ha, very funny, Kate." Gibbs is not amused. "And do you think to become a widow is a matter of CHOICE? It's not, if she didn't kill them herself, at least"

"OK, here, she changed from an MD to behaviorist, I wonder why?" Kate questions herself; she is quiet for long minutes, fingers tapping furiously, scrolling up and down the page, bingo!

"Gibbs, you think she changed her major because she was disappointed with human nature? Her first husband died in a war. Dolphins in NNMP deal with wars, Gibbs, she wants to help. Maybe, she is just heart broken…I don't know" Kate suddenly lost her enthusiasm and goes quiet.

She whispers to herself, "…just like you, Gibbs" and becomes lost in thought.

Gibbs's impeccable hearing catches the last part of her whisper. "What's wrong?" He asks the suddenly quiet lady beside him.

"No, nothing…" she animatedly shakes her head, not looking at him, she is afraid to look into his eyes, afraid for him to see her thinking.

"Kate, what's wrong?" He insists.

"At least she tries, Gibbs, at least you try." she compares her boss and Dunn.

"Divorced thrice, widow twice! Who cares! Who cares what people say or think about those! Yeah sure, Dunn failed, you failed, SURE your mentally unstable ex bashed your head with a golf club, you made terrible choices, you are_ AWFUL_ at them, Gibbs." Kate just says whatever are in her mind.

"But you try, you give it a go, compares to you guys…I am a coward." Kate sighs heavily, she distracts her emotion by glancing at the time, past two in the morning.

"You should try to get some sleep." She speaks as she stands up and walks towards her room, struggling hard to stop her tears from falling down to her cheeks. Gibbs notices that her voice changed, hears a muffled good night from her as she closed her door.

He hears her throwing herself on the bed and a few seconds later, he hears her blowing her nose.

Yep! It conforms his guesses that she cried. He doesn't know what to think of the incidents, he doesn't know what to do, and he is afraid he might do the wrong things or said the wrong thing. He should try to get some sleep before DiNozzo starts snoring again, the disadvantage of being a light sleeper.

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It is seven in the morning:

Kate and Tony are sitting at the corner table at NNMP's cafeteria, eating their breakfast.Gibbs woke up before them and went for his daily run.

They were going for breakfast when he came back all sweaty, still catching his breath. "Go! We'll meet in ten minutes" he said.

"Boss, how did you manage taking a shower, getting dressed and going there all in just ten minutes? Don't hurry, we…" DiNozzo looks at his crazy boss.

"DiNozzo, if you are not capable of doing that, is because you never were in the Corps. Counting from now! GO!!!" And he heads to the shower as he gulps a bottle of water.

In the Cafeteria:

"I slept like a baby, Kate." Tony grins at Kate, while buttering his toast and Kate just frowns at him. It was not a good night for her.

She is just sipping at her tea – 'baby, my butt!' She is looking at Tony eating his breakfast like a wolf, not a very nice sight!

"Not for us, Tony, you snore!" Kate snaps at the hungry Tony.

"Ohhh…ifff nooo suuuu looood kett" Tony answers her with his mouth full, saying 'it's not so loud, Kate'.

Kate just shakes her head at him. Then Tony changes the topic, he quickly swallows his food, gulps down his milk and starts pissing her off.

"Kate, you should move to San Diego, I am sure they have NCIS agents here too." Tony speaks as he is buttering another piece of toast.

"You are popular here, you don't look too bad." Tony looks up and down at his team mate. Kate is way too tired to reply his joke or remark on his poor table manners; Kate just looks at him, but disregards his rude remarks, Gibbs would have kicked his ass if he was here.

"The guys have been hovering you all over you like flies, Kate, they must think you are sweet" Tony adds.

Kate gruesomely still refused to return his remark. Instead she angrily snatches his piece of toast and bites a corner of the piece of toast delicately…but the thing cracks into pieces, earning Kate a savage smile from her partner in crime.

"Hey! Poor table manners, Kate, not nice, not at all, no wonder nobody in DC is willing to take you for a 2nd date." Tony shakes his head and starts buttering another piece of toast.

Tony continues his stupid remarks on her "…until they find out that you are a pretty sweet lady who is actually icy and sleeps with the gun under her pillow." Tony nods to himself in satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Kate is distracted, 'there is a pair of captivating green eyes' that's been approaching their corner slowly.

"Green egg eyes" Tony thinks and the green egg eyes are looking at the sweet lady who sleeps with a gun under her pillow.

Kate has enough, "Yeah Tony, why don't you move away from me so that I can socialize with the FLIES!" Kate said angrily; then their quarrelsome breakfast is suddenly disturbed by a presence and an action.

TWACK

Tony got a head slap and Kate got a stern warning from her boss. "You'll do no such thing, Kate! You are not here to socialize…and shut your mouth, DiNozzo!" Gibbs snaps as he sits beside Kate.

He doesn't like it that a few officers are already inching their way towards her, but once they see the grumpy boss at the table, they clear the way.

Unfortunately, "Green egg eyes" disappeared about two seconds after the gun thing.

"Not a problem," Kate whispers, she thinks a pair of soft blue eyes that replaced green ones is much better, even when the blue set is piercing at her, angrily.

Gibbs feeds himself with his usual drug of choice coffee and throws a whole piece of toast into his mouth chewing angrily with cracking noises, Tony does not dare make any comments about table manners; he has already had enough slaps for the entire morning.

He checks his watch, damn former marine! Nine minutes and forty five seconds, DiNozzo can't say a word; he is impressed with his Boss.

"Tony started it, Gibbs" Kate tries to explain

"But, Kate is…" Tony tries to defend himself

"That's enough!" Gibbs snaps again, he heard DiNozzo's comments on her nonexistent love life and how the guys are hovering over his female agent: it just doesn't sit right in his stomach.

"I got an OK from Dunn, we can use her office, we are going to interview dozens of personnel by midday and I have to interrogate the SEALS before, go and set your quarters there and I want Ducky's report ASAP! MOVE!" Gibbs bellows his order.

And both of them scramble on their feet, obeying his order.

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After a few hours in Dunn's office:

Tony eyes his watch carefully. Gibbs is not there but he is used to doing it subtly, he knows all about Gibbs's wrath. Kate and him are sharing a table in Dunn's office, they have been working silently two hours or so. Tony received the information that Abby has obtained from the explosion debris; there is nothing much or certain with the result.

Kate is profiling the NMMP's personnel: Trainers and DOLPHINS. Each of them has their personal file and history. And she gets more curious and surprised as she reads.

Tony is distracting her by throwing a paper ball that hits her keyboard.

"Hey Kate!" he calls. Then, a bit louder: "KATE!"

She looks over the edge of her screen. Their laptops are back to back on the table that Sedna had cleared for them, sliding all her stuff aside. There was a dolphin's skull, DiNozzo guesses and some slides of glass with fish stings and God knows what else.

"That is all we have, Special Agents, not much space here, not even for me" Dunn apologized for her small office.

Then they arranged their things and thanked her. But instead of going away, she remained leaning over DiNozzo: her face a few inches from DiNozzo's nose. Tony swallowed hard, looking up at her strange shining golden eyes.

"DiNozzo, I know Kate is a careful person, so let me tell you something: if something gets broken here, you are going to see the other side of me, understood?" She explains in a very smooth and_ dangerous_ voice.

DiNozzo manages to answer quietly: "Don't worry, doc, I'll be careful."

"Good! And don't call me 'doc' " and two seconds later she is answering her ringing phone.

Tony sighs under Kate's amused look. "Geezzz, Kate! Something is wrong here! For one second she scared me more than Gibbs does"

After a fast glance to Sedna who is still absorbed in her phone call, Tony keeps talking in a murmur, just to make sure she does not overhear him. "Hey, Kate!" as he rolls his eyes towards Dunn. "Doesn't she make you think of someone?"

Kate glances at Sedna quickly. Sedna is answering the apparently long questions with a chain of yeses and no's in the most laconic way. "I don't know Tony, she is sexy… maybe one of your cyberspace girls?"

Tony sighs, evidently disappointed with Kate's unconcerned attitude. For once, he is going to be a good profiler and his pretty partner is not paying attention to him. "No, Kate. I'm not talking about how she looks, I'm speaking about her behavior which you love so much"

This time he gets a mildly interested look from Kate: "what???"

"The way she_ acts_, Kate! She is Gibbs's twin!!!" DiNozzo whispers forcefully.

Kate is studying his face and concedes that there is more than a sex brain under his skull, obviously. Gibbs keeps Tony in his team for something and that is NOT his obsession with sex. He has been not distracted by Sedna's physical attributes.

Tony continues: "This double XX gene that you women have, although it makes her so much more attractive than Gibbs, smooths that crappy "Gibbsian" mood a little, but the weird grumpy behavior is still there, Kate."

Kate looks at Sedna again. She finished speaking and sets the cell phone on their table with a smile to DiNozzo, then takes a pair of audiophones, puts them on her ears and sits facing her screen to run her algorithms or so…apparently, she doesn't pay attention to Special Agents' conversation at all.

Kate nods to her partner. For once Tony is right. The whole thing is a little scary, but she is not going to give in to his reasoning easily, not without fight. But he is undeniably right.

"Wow, Tony, a_ FEMALE_ Gibbs??? I could have sworn that nobody can seem like Gibbs." Kate admits.

With a wide smile Tony (who is very satisfied with himself) declares: "Except the caffeine addiction and that she is technologically skilled, the rest of their crazes are pretty similar"

"Give me a specific example, Tony." Kate is curious.

"The boat."

"She is NOT building a boat in her basement, Tony."

"That's just because she already HAS one and THAT ONE is a hell of boat, Kate!!! You and Gibbs should see, and she was married TWICE! Almost as bad as Gibbs's record"

"She didn't get divorced, Tony. Her husbands died. It is NOT the same!!!"

"Whatever" Tony insists, "a little scary, isn't it?"

Kate interrupts him, accepting his theory inside but maintaining her defense of the female gender: "A female Gibbs, Tony??? Might be scarier for you, men! But you deserve it in many ways"

"Ha ha, funny, Kate, but think about it. It is terrorizing!!! Imagine for a moment: To have a "daddy" Gibbs would be a big problem, imagine what it would be to have a "mommy" Gibbs!" Tony's shoulders shivers, like he is feeling an imaginary fear "brrrrr".

But Kate can't help the need to annoy him. One part of her justifies all her Boss's obsessions. "C'mon Tony" she smiles, " If Gibbs was a woman instead of a man, you would be in love with him, I mean…her"

She regrets saying that at the very moment. She notes that her joke is just the reflection of HER big crush on her boss. Kate can't help the blush on her cheeks and prays that Tony doesn't notice it or blame it on the mistake she made previously.

But no such luck for Kate, his frozen piercing eyes are staring at hers. "Oh shit, Kate, keep your big mouth shut." she says to herself.

Tony can be a jerk about women, but his mind is sharp and he has special skills, searching for hidden emotions. He is not that stupid and she promises to be careful in the future and what the hell! The best defense is a good attack:

"And don't keep looking at Dunn that way, Tony."

"What way do you mean, Kate?" he smiles sweetly.

"You_ know_ what I mean, the way you look at women you want to include in your personal Guinness Book, Tony. The way you used to look at me! But in case you didn't notice, she is older than the "girls" you used to date and "Einstein" in comparison to them"

"Maybe, she is older, but I'm thinking of going in a different direction. If the diving and running can produce such a body, Kate, you know what to do the next eight years of your life!"

"How in hell do you know her age, Tony?" Kate is shocked.

"I have my ways, and if fitness and weight are not enough. I'm sure the neoprene suit is not all the synthetic material that our doc carries on "

"You're a pig, Tony!" and Kate smiles and continues "she is NOT the type of woman who likes these tricks! If she hears you, she would bite your head off and I'm not going to help you"

He opens his big mouth to answer, but at that moment Sedna takes her mobile phone, almost hidden behind the skull, beside him and offers it to him:

"Why didn't you answer the call, DiNozzo? It was for you," Sedna explains – innocently.

He gapes but takes the phone with a very tiny smile. By his frozen grin, Kate knows WHO is at the other side, Oh MY GOD…GIBBS!

"Why_ the hell is your mobile off!!!"_ shouts the voice, loudly enough to be heard

Four may be five seconds go by before Tony finds his own voice. "Sorry, Boss… I don't knowhow."

"Surprising, for someone with your "tech skills" DiNozzo!!! I want you both to be here, NOW!!!" and hangs up.

He looks at Kate and both look at Sedna, whose eyes are on her screen again, apparently not concerned about their "domestic" drama. Tony feels his stomach twisting painfully and not from hunger.

The Special Agents go to meet Gibbs and probably the SEAL officers at the CO Office.

Sedna sends an amused look at the closing door, DiNozzo will not annoy her anymore, she is pretty certain of that.

-------------------------------------------------------------

They find the office full of people, most of them are naval officers and some civilian. If looks could kill, Dunn and the three NCIS agents would be dead already. But Gibbs couldn't care less whether they are happy or not, the angrier they are, the better.

All he cares are who, how, when and where exactly the Navy Lieutenant was washed ashore, dead after the explosion. He doesn't give a damn about the dolphin, yet.

Tony is giving each of them a turn, and then they must wait outside under the attentive watch of the guard that the CO had assigned. Accordingly to the orders, which Gibbs called suggestions, none is allowed to talk with each other, before or after the interrogation.

The CO told them that NCIS is there to investigate the explosion that had killed a marine and added that the Navy and the country can't afford the crap of any man or woman killed in action (KIA) by someone else's mistake.

They are in the office, hearing the CO yelling from outside.

Gibbs patiently sips his coffee. Kate and Tony are piling up the files in selected classes and checking their notes.

Dunn is contemplating. The sun is playing on the ceiling as she hears the CO. She rolls her eyes in annoyance and stands up. There is no way she is going to pay attention to all of this.

At her back Gibbs says in a quiet voice "Where are you going to?"

Shefreezes and takes many seconds before turning back to face him, then she blinks and asks: "Why am I included in the suspects list, Gibbs?"

----------------------------------------

-Tbc-Dolphinsiren.novasupernova.2007.BETA (MV)


	3. Chapter 3

"**Dolphin Hero" Chapter 3**

He smirks, "Nope, I'm asking you to stay, you could help us and we will probably need some explanations along the way."

"Oh…" Dunn is surprised.

"OK, I just need to distract myself a little, as I know the CO. We have at least fifteen minutes; I have some work to do, if you don't mind"

"Sure, Doc." Gibbs agreed.

Dunn sits and starts some video on the plasma screen. It's an exceptional screen, even better than the one they have in Abby's Lab.

Minutes go by and Gibbs got his "who knows how manieth" cup of coffee, It's clear that Dunn knows the jerk CO very well.

Dunn is watching the video and taking some notes at her keyboard when a sharp exclamation from DiNozzo interrupts her. She clicks the stop icon and turns to him, frowning. He and Kate had been watching the Californian sea lions at the screen as Gibbs read some file.

"What's your problem, DiNozzo?" Sedna sighs looking at him impatiently. "Can't I have a couple of minutes of peace without you distracting me? I'm going to dedicate all the morning to you! What's the matter?"

Tony is watching the frozen screen where a male sea lion was, seconds before, catching a female, biting the back of her neck and holding her in the air while shaking her defenseless body.

"Not just we humans kill each other, I see…" DiNozzo gapes at the screen

Sedna is looking at him curiously and as the video plays again, she says with a gentle voice, as if talking to a kid: "It is NOT an assassination, DiNozzo. You need to watch more of Discovery kids or Animal Planet, this is just…_ foreplay_ "

"WHAT???" DiNozzo shouts in surprise, watching the replayed scene, his mouth still open. It is pretty funny, Kate decides.

"FOREPLAY it is what…us…mammals, as well as other vertebrates do before mating, DiNozzo, in case you didn't know," Dunn spells it out for the Special Agent.

Kate is trying so hard to contain her laughter.

"So, they are…_ mating???_" he can't believe his eyes

"YES, DiNozzo!!! YES, they WERE mating before you interrupted me, didn't your daddy and mummy explain the "mating" thing to you? Could I help you with any other information?" Sedna is almost shouting now.

Kate gives a brief laugh but Gibbs, taken by surprise while wolfing down a big cup of coffee can't help himself and chokes on the hot liquid, causing the coffee to spray it all over the table and files…and his pants.

Everybody is looking at him now, waiting for his explosive reaction…but, no! Strangely, rarely, despite the rain of coffee, Gibbs is openly laughing_, laughing!!!_

"That…was the funniest thing I've heard in years Dr Dunn!!! Isn't it? 'Sexmachine'?" And he reaches out his arm and slaps DiNozzo's head, "and you are going to pay the laundry bill, sex machine!!!"

But Tony doesn't mind the laundry bill, he is still interested in the animals and very persistent, Kate thinks and admits that persistence is good in a cop.

"And…and…why is the male double the weight…I mean…the size of the female? Isn't that…weird and bad?" he asks Dunn.

Sedna looks at him more kindly now, the boy is serious. "Yes, DiNozzo, blame it on evolution. It is called sexual dimorphism, it is necessary for the species' survival. We humans have a certain degree of dimorphism too."

She looks down at herself, opening her hands: "Look at me and Kate…and look you, guys!!!" She glares briefly to Tony and then gives a more delightfully slow look at Gibbs who smirks under her professional scrutiny, "…we are a good example."

Sedna looks at Kate, there is a smooth blush on her cheeks and it is not from laughing at her partner, Dunn is sure of that. Obviously, she had followed her direction and studied her Boss's features openly.

The video is still playing. Now, the sea lions are properly mating, the much heavier body of the male almost covering, surely crushing the female more slender and somehow graceful body.

"He is not hurting her?" the knuckle headed Special Agent asks in disbelief.

"No, DiNozzo, it is not! Well maybe, sometimes he can bite her if she doesn't submit to the male, but it is not common, but if the female refused, the survival of the species could be threatened, as I told you, evolution. The females choose strong males, who can defend her from other males or other dangers and preserve the territory, and a strong healthy mate increases one's possibility of giving birth to a strong healthy pup, it's PERFECT! Evolution is perfect"

Kate, at the end, risks a question, hoping that she doesn't crash and burn like DiNozzo. "So, if he is not crushing her, it means that the female is adapted to her stronger, heavier partner?"

Before Sedna could answer, Gibbs makes his first observation about with a quiet voice. "She does not seem to be distressed," his eyes still glued to the plasma screen.

Sedna mirrors his smirk. "GOOD, Agent Gibbs, sure she isn't "

"So, among the sea lions, it is the female who chooses the partner?" conforms DiNozzo.

"And among humans as well DiNozzo!" Gibbs couldn't help himself from commenting to his daft Agent, who is supposed to be a Casanova.

"GOOD! Agent Gibbs, very good! Did you learn from experience?" Obviously, Sedna is enjoying this conversation, Kate bets. Sedna is looking at the abnormally smiling Gibbs approvingly.

Before he could answer, someone knocks the door impatiently, their juicy conversation is over. The CO is finally tired ofyelling at his men.

---------------------------------------------

The interrogation is going to begin soon. The CO had suggested the higher ranks would be interviewed first.

The SEALs enter first, in a tight pack and stay there with inscrutable faces, it is obvious that they are not going to obey any order from anybody, except their formal leader – the captain.

One of them is older than the rest, obviously the leader of the pack. Kate estimates his age, must be in his late 30's or early 40's, while the rest are in their late twenties.

"Gibbs, this is Captain Stolzer." Dunn introduces the SEALs' CO with a cold voice. It is obvious that she doesn't like him and she is NOT bothered to hide it, "and these are Agents DiNozzo and Todd".

"Captain Carl Stolzer, what do you want from my team?" The SEAL CO shakes Gibbs's hand, hard but still professional, within the military code.

Dunn is observing and so does Kate.

The Captain introduces himself, asking a direct question to the senior agent. He continues, baring his rules. "My men will co-operate, they are under my orders, anything you need to ask, just ask me," the CO barks with no hesitation.

"I don't think so Capt Stolzer, we will interrogate any suspects or witness as we see fit" Gibbs looks at him in the eyes.

The SEAL CO looks like he is about to pound on Gibbs. He is NOT used to having his orders defied by any men, whether civilians or military.

Dunn is looking at the scene with great interest, she is about to witness a territorial fight! Just like some mammals fighting for their place. This is going to be fun…before her new friend Kate, intervenes, at the right time.

"Captain, what Special Agent Gibbs means, is that we'll conduct the interrogation as Naval professionals, we are extremely pleased with your cooperation," Kate quickly intervenes, with a light still professional smile, putting herself in between the testosterone charged males, she has no wish for her beloved-grumpy-Boss to be pound into pieces.

The SEAL Captain looks surprised.

The man is stroked by the sudden interference of the female agent, a small statured lady, her head doesn't even reach his shoulder; and he is NOT an easy person to be dismissed, and yet she dares, the woman has balls!

"And you are?" the Captain asked.

Gibbs rolls his eyes in annoyance. "She is Special Agent Todd! What? Do you have a poor memory, Captain?"

Kate couldn't believe her ears, her boss is insane.

Stolzer's face is turning red and the muscles of his jaw are bulging as his eyes with anger; but no words go out from his mouth. He knows well that Special Agent Gibbs position is higher than his; he knows NCIS and familiar with their rights and privilege.

He does not like the man, but he can't say to the bastard what he wishes to say. Instead he straightens, eyes fixed in an imaginary point between them, and shouts: "No, Sir!"

Sedna Dunn is seated on her chair, right at the "front seat" of the fight, witnessing the heated contest in her small crowded office. Her life is just about to get really exciting. She loves NCIS!

Dunn can see the spark that will start the fireworks: The SEAL CO has taken an interest and the man is obviously captivated by "Gibbs's girl" oopps, she means the NCIS female agent that she is rather fond of.

Kate is not a sissy and the CO likes it.

On the other hand, Kate's boss is definitely NOT happy with the attention towards his agent and Gibbs is NOT hiding or making any effort to hide his displeasure.

The Captain decides to ignore Gibbs's rude remark. He has more important things on his mind, and the woman standing in front of him is really pretty…and_ kind,_ the complete opposite of her boss.

She is dressed in a feminine blouse and her hair is tied in a ponytail, exposing the fine line of her neck, collarbones and delicate ears. He swallows and obliges his eyes to remain cold and professional but still focused on the beautiful creature in front of him.

"You can call me Carl." He shakes Kate's hand warmly, giving her permission to callhim by his given name. At the time DiNozzo is gawking at his partner.

"Oh? Call me…" Kate is surprised, she is about to say her name when she is rudely interrupted by her grumpy boss.

"TODD! Special Agent Todd! And you shall address the Special Agent appropriately!" as he pulls "his woman" aside and steps forward, taking her place.

Dunn notices: Gibbs is looking directly in the Captain's eyes, warning him to lay off his property, she means, his agent, his subordinate, his "female" in the mostly animal sense.

Oh yeah!!! The only thing that makes Gibbs different from a male elephant seal in the breeding season fight is the fact that his nose is not increasing in size as he faces the rival male defiantly.

They are face to face, their chests separated by a few inches and their chins are up. Like elephant "SEALS" and, yeah, sure the Captain is younger and has bulkier shoulders but there is a halo of authority and rank surrounding Gibbs. His female Agent is safely tucked behind him.

Smiling from inside, Sedna recalled how the younger elephant seals, even being stronger and with plenty of hormones, used to retreat in the presence of an older Alfa male; his status affirmed by scars of uncountable succeeded seasons .

"We are not so far from animals." She is satisfied with her theory.

Dunn decides it is time! The time to interrupt or shall she say "douse the spark of fire".

"Gibbs, you can conduct the interrogation next door, there is a meeting room you can use," she is still looking at Gibbs and Stolzer moves one step backwards at the same time.

Kate is behind her boss looking at the scene worriedly, DiNozzo is bugging her with his whispering. She is shorter than Gibbs and he is blocking her view.

"May I have your men's files, Captain?" Gibbs asks the man.

Stolzer doesn't say a word, he turns back to military mode. The man walks towards the table and grabs the confidential files - giving them…oh no, not to the leader of the pack.

Hell no! He gives them to the pretty Agent Todd. He will find out her given name later and perhaps get to know her a little bit better, she is saucy!

"Thanks Captain." Kate thanks him kindly.

If looks couldkill, she would already be dead! DiNozzo is shaking his head, very displeased with Kate.

"Agent Gibbs! You have twelve hours!" The Captain snaps at him. "We are in the middle of a training program".

"DON'T tell me how to do my job! And I will interrogate you LAST!" Gibbs answers grimly and signals his agents to exit Dunn's office.

"Thanks Sedna." Only Kate remembers to thank the kind woman and Sedna replies with a small nod and smile.

---------------------------------------------------

Outside the office.

"DiNozzo! Go down to the local pubs and I want you to gather information on our SEAL boys, anything that might help us in the investigation!" Gibbs gives his order.

Tony gleefully yelps, but before he can thank his boss. Kate interrupts him curtly. "WHAT? Gibbs! Him? Why?" she is NOT happy.

But Gibbs ignores her complaint, not even looking at her.

"…and DiNozzo! I have eyes in the back of my head, so watch it!"

"OK, BOSS" and Tony runs away from his boss and dissatisfied partner.

"Kate, I want you to profile them. You can't watch them from the window, so you'll be seated next to me and profile" Gibbs decides.

"OK." Kate sighs, no hope of changing her boss mind, once it's made up, she walks towards the designated room with the files.

Out of the blue, Gibbs reaches out to her and grabs her arm. "Katie, any time, any of the guys makes you feel uncomfortable, you let me know." He looks at her seriously – he knows how SEALs are, and she has never handled them before.

"Gibbs, I am not a baby." She is still angry and she enters the room, while Gibbs stays outside and decides on the order of the interviews.

---------------------------------

So the two of them interview a total of twenty three officers, including SEALs and six civilians until four in the afternoon, helped by DiNozzo who returns to them within two hours after he was dispatched by Gibbs.

The officers see the younger agent reporting to his boss and see the man with the silver hair nodding accordingly.

By the time they are done with the interview:

Kate is dying for a rest, DiNozzo is dying from hunger and Gibbs is NOT dying for anything because he has his coffee, thanks to Dunn, the coffee pot had never been empty.

The woman was once married to a marine, she'll know about their needs and priorities.

Gibbs is having the time of his life, interrogating a pack of officers with an adequate supply of coffee.

Dunn had been witnessing the interrogation in complete silence, she didn't say a word about Gibbs's particular method, although she took some notes, Kate noticed. Probably she is going to cross check some circumstances or affirmations which she suspects not being true.

In the middle of the procedure they took a ten minute long interval and Gibbs rubs his tired eyes and blinks, then stands up and heads to the bathroom. When he returns, his face and hair are still wet and his cheeks are slightly pink.

He washed his face. Sedna profiles the man while she is giving instructions to her two assistants in their diving suits to empty the main pool during the night, with the slow tone of hers that seems to be a casual comment but has the force of an order for those who know her, and then they both nod briefly and left.

Gibbs looks at her and smirks. "Thank you, Doc"

"For what, Agent Gibbs?"

"Coffee and help." She smiles sadly and replies. "It didn't help yet"

Gibbs mirrors her smile and gives a nod: "Yes, you did, none of them ignores you, you know all about the program and your presence here made them unable to lie about this…at the very least"

"Do you think they are afraid of me, Gibbs?

"I would be…actually"

"Well, Gibbs, I don't know what to do or say, whether to thank you or kick your ass. Was that a compliment?" Dunn asks.

"Sort of" and Gibbs left the woman in his quarters.

--------------------------------------------------

It is almost dusk.

By that time they are sitting around the table in Dunn's quarters, cross-examining results. After half an hour Kate decides to do something else "Gibbs, I am going to visit Dunn, I have some questions about the compound to ask her, be back before night fall," She lets him know and received a stiff nod from him.

"Date with the older navy CO, Kate, or the SEALs' stiff Captain?" Tony teases her

"You are a pig. And I would rather date a 'SEAL' than you," Kate grins and leaves him dumbfounded.

------------------------------------------------

Kate breathes deeply, the place is beautiful, fresh warm humid air. She gazes over the horizon; if only…Kate thinks, if only she could share what she sees with someone, with him, as she admires the dusk, absolutely gorgeous. She wishes she had a pair of binoculars. Dunn might be willing to lend her.

Kate asks for directions to Dunn's boat. Within thirty minutes she walks through the large compound, only to finally find Dunn's boat on the other side of the main entrance. The last one, or first one, depending on where you are, said the guard at the entrance.

"Oh God." Kate whispers to herself, the beach, the white soft sand on the shores. She sees Dunn's boat, named "_Dolphin Siren_": her slender lines even more graceful among the barges and minesweepers around.

Without realizing, Kate reaches down to take off her shoes, sheds her coat and peacefully walks through the heated sand to the Dolphin Siren. "Magical" Kate admires.

"Hello…Dr. Dunn" Kate calls for her. A few seconds later she notices Dunn's head, peaking from behind a half unfolded sail.

"MY GOD! I never thought it would be a sailing vessel, Gibbs has to see her" Kate exclaims.

"Yes, come aboard, Agent Todd." Dunn notices her bare feet and grins at Kate.

"Love the beach, Agent Todd?" Dunn asks her guest.

"OH YES!" Kate replies enthusiastically. "I love beaches," Kate grins excitedly like a five year old. "And call me Kate, please"

Kate left her sand filled shoes by the entrance, not wanting to dirty the boat.She crosses the plank feeling her heart beating faster from excitement as she looks around eagerly. She has never been on a boat like this. Since she has joined NCIS she is getting used to warships and all that, very impressive war tech, but this boat is…different.

Wood, bronze, and pale sails, from where the breeze gets attractive light noises, squeaks and creaks.

This boat speaks of far seas and adventure and Kate recalls the rainy evenings of her childhood, her old brothers playing as warriors and pirates and pissing her off, saying that women are forbidden on board.

Suddenly she feels the deck moving under her feet and recovers her balance with a surprised smile. Dunn nods with her personal half sided smile. "She is not an aircraft carrier, Special Agent Todd, this boat_ feels_ the sea, even when she is moored."

The last rays of the sun stain the unfolded sails in orange, reflected by the steering. Kate notes that it is certainly not the original steering, it is made out of steel and fiberglass or something. She remembers hearing Dunn said that her vessel had been equipped and updated.

Sedna is looking at her, still holding a pair of tools. She wonders what she is really doing here, was it Gibbs who sent her to her boat? Or did she come on her own?

Her thoughts are interrupted by a man in shorts, coming up from the stern.

"I'mdone, 'Sed', now, at least it would work…have to replace this piece of sh..…Oh!" The man stops talking as he sees Kate with her.

"Ok, that's all, Tom. This is Special Agent Todd, NCIS. Kate, this is Tom, my vet" Dunn introduces them.

"And your mechanic, I'm glad that not all NCIS agents are that grumpy, ma'am," Tom replies.

Kate looks at him, confused. She can't figure out what the man is talking about and suddenly, her brain clicks and she knew…GIBBS.

"I hoped not. So, you are a vet, you take care of the dolphins here?"

"NO, I 'm just an adviser, NMMP has military vets and they are in charge, I assist Dr Dunn in her behavior studies. You will stay here tonight, Sedna?"

"Yeah, you know I'm more comfortable here, Tom. I'll be fine, I've my dinner, go man, there is somebody waiting for you." Dunn urges the man to go.

"Sure? Don't need anything?" he insists

Sedna shakes her head emphatically. "Didn't you hear me? I'm fine! Go!" and she gives a friendly kick to his ass.

He pats her shoulder briefly. "OK! I left the bike out there in case you needed it. Fred could give me a ride."

Sedna starts a protest but he is already out "See you 'morrow Capt."

Dunn sighs and rubs the sweat off her arms and neck with the towel. Her white top is soaked and shows some oil spots. Kate smiles shyly. "So, this is your haven, dr. Dunn?"

And Dunn invites her in.

Kate is amazed by what she sees; how Sedna has made_ Dolphin Siren_ her home. She doesn't know much about vessels but it is not difficult to see that the old boat was fully equipped with digital technology and retained most of her old charm.

The place is cozy, warm and welcoming, yet there is no clutter, no pictures on the cabin wall, nor in the kitchen in the cabin, nor the living room which by night served as her sleeping quarters. Kate wonders, and her question is answered as Sedna opens a door and there is the master bedroom cabin.

"I know what you are thinking; this is the only thing that remained exactly the same, even the bed, surprising isn't it?" Dunn explains

Kate is looking at the round bed, her mouth opens in amusement.

Sedna smiles, "never seen anything like this? At least in a boat, this boat belonged to the father of my first husband and he was…well, a little outrageous. But I found the bed very comfortable! You can change position when sleeping, just don't hit your shins against the corners, it is difficult to slide down when the vessel moves and very good for other purposes, Agent Todd!" The two can't help themselves and they laugh.

Suddenly, Kate's face turns red as she thinks about the strange bed which is wide enough to share with someone like Gibbs. She is really surprised with the "scenario" that invades her mind with no warning.

Has she gone insane? It must be the weather or perhaps she spent too much time alone since she kicked her last boyfriend's sorry ass and she can't help it but to feel the anger again, the anger she felt when she discovered the son of a bitch was dating another woman on the side.

What was happening to her? Is she going to turn into some sort of "DiNozzo"? Some sort of sex deprived creature?

It is just that DiNozzo starts going crazy within ten days of single life; Caitlin Todd has spent months with no one to share her nights.

Sedna has been contemplating her angry and sad face but she says nothing and shows Kate the rest of the boat. She shows off her "baby" with pleasure and pride.

-----------------------------------------

Two hours later:

The girls are sitting on the makeshift sofas, drinking iced coffee and eating lobster salad, Dunn's famous recipe. They talk as if they have known each other for years. They click. The topics range from personal life to the case and the dead dolphin, then Kate realizes how much Sedna loved the dolphin and how disturbed she is and that his name is Kenny.

Kate tries to cheer her up: "Ducky is very kind, Sedna, you don't have to worry, he pays great respect to the deceased, he is gentle and…"

Dunn interrupts her. "Oh, I know, Kate. When I found out that it is Ducky who is going to perform the autopsy on my dolphin, I felt so much better, and my poor baby is in good hands, besides I believe he is skilled enough to find something such as I would have found if there is something to be found "

"Sedna, we'll set up a connection and let you watch his work, I 'm pretty sure he would be pleasant" Kate assures her, "and I am sure Ducky will return your dolphin to you, if you wanted him to."

"Thanks, Kate - I was thinking about it, actually I have the official request on my desk. Our project is to build a marine science museum and I want Kenny's skeleton for the exhibition, we have a story to tell about Kenny, he was the best of all dolphins ever trained in sub aquatic surveillance"

Dunn sadly continues. "…He was twenty three years old and was "enlisted" if you would allow me to use the word, fifteen years ago, he had extraordinary abilities, his performance is classified info by now, I'm not authorized to talk about it, but I could tell you if it's necessary. But I'm sure you could access it on your own and we both shall avoid the fury of Charles, The CO Smithers" she clarifies. "I'm tired of having to discuss it with him every- single-day"

"I guess he can be difficult." Kate feels sorry for her new friend.

Sedna smirks and tilts her head and Kate suddenly notices how much her smirk mirrors Gibbs's. Hers is left instead of right, but the final result is almost the same.

"Maybe Tony IS right, they have much in common, what life experience produces these kind of people?" She wonders.

"They are not easy, but their existence improves the environment even when they are used to being alone in their private lives." Kate returns abruptly to the present when she hears her name:

"Kate, do you like animals?" Dunn asks her. She is enjoying the female company, her counterpart is fresh, sweet and intelligent, NOT some bimbo and she is ex Secret Service, selected to protect the President. Wow!

There is much more to her than what she can see and of course; Gibbs does not have her in his team just for decorative purposes, Dunn concludes.

"Oh Yes, very much," Kate nods her head.

"So, what kind of pet do you have? I have a Siamese cat here. 'Blue eyes' and 'Blaise' is his nick…Supposedly hidden somewhere around, distrust new people," Sedna looks around looking for her pet, "he will show up soon, he used to sleep over my shoulder"

Kate goes really quiet. "Oh, I don't have any, with my work and schedule, they'll die within a week"she says as she is staring at her feet, somehow deeply embarrassed by her life.

"But your boyfriend could help you take care of the pet, or he doesn't like animals?" Dunn is ready to hear Kate gush about her boyfriend who is NOT fond of animals and why a pretty and intelligent girl like her ended up with jerk! But Dunn is shocked by what Kate admits.

Kate is shrinking further by the second. "I live alone…" she says forlornly, not being able to control her emotions. Why on earth does she tell Sedna everything?

---------------------------------------------------

-TBC-Dolphinsiren/novasupernova/2007-BETA (MV)

**Special thanks to our BETA (MV)**


	4. Chapter 4

"**Dolphin Hero" Chapter 4**

Dunn wishes she didn't open her damn big mouth. "Sorry, Kate, I just assumed: a smart sassy girl like you, I thought you'll be engaged or something, or swarms with multiple guys. Hey Kate, it is their loss anyway," Dunn really wants to eat her own foot with her big mouth, she feels so guilty.

Dunn fears that Kate is so uncomfortable that their nice new bond is about to disappear.

But no! Kate grins at her: "I am not DiNozzo!" she says cheekily.

"Oh yeah! That man, what's with him?" Dunn is glad that Kate changed the subject.

"Very long puberty!" Kate decides, "but he is a good partner, he would die for me and I would die for him too," she is really astounded by her own admittance, but is simply the truth, "and we would all die for…"

"Your "grumpy pretty blue eyes" boss!!! Sure, and he would die for you and Tony._ Semper fi,_Kate," Dunn finishes her sentence.

"Yes, I know and…well, I mean, not just good. The thing is I never realized when I joined NCIS, until this moment. Working for the Secret Service, I was ready to die protecting the President and or his family. We all were ready, but I never thought to protect my partners with my own life, but that is what we do. We are family," Kate rambles uncomfortably.

"Easy Kate, I understand. I married a marine once, we were so young! He really loved me, but you know, sometimes I got unreasonably jealous about the kind of bond among them." Sedna takes a sip of her ice coffee absentmindedly.

Kate sees in her eyes the same look that she sees many times in her boss. This absentminded and heartbreaking expression he wouldn't want to be seen with. It speaks of compassion, pain and resigned desperation.

She never understood why, it is not his divorces, no! The way he looks at his ex wives, not that she has known them all. She only knew one of them and it was more than sufficient! Closer to exasperation and annoyance. He wouldn't miss them, no…it is not about his ex wives, it is another thing.

Kate sighs and gets a kind smile from Sedna.

Oh,how simpler and easier it is to talk to women, she thinks. Don't think it can happen with Tony and Gibbs. Is that why she is interested in Sedna's life? Would she learn something about how to read her inscrutable boss? Are their similarities what attracts her to Sedna? Or the differences with her own life? Kate's mind is boggled.

Dunn smiles and places her coffee on the table. She seems to recognize what is tormenting her new friend.

"Well Kate, I have been widowed twice. After my second husband I tried dating, two or three times, nothing serious, though I don't want to be married anymore. I just regret about not having kids," Dunn admits, "…and I really like children"

"To be honest, Sedna, you are like my boss, and he loves children, like you but didn't have any. Well, he is much worse than you though, he is divorced three times!" Kate states almost proudly.

She continues: "The last one hit his head with a baseball bat! And you know WHAT is weird? All of them were redheads, oh…sorry, I didn't mean to offend you!" and Kate shakes her head, looking at Sedna's hair color.

It's not fully red but it is actually a really dark blonde with an undeniable touch of red and it's her real color, Kate guesses. Some freckles on her shoulders are almost hidden by the sexy tan.

"Don't worry, Kate!!! I'm not going to hit his head at all, although I think he deserves, maybe a slap? Like he does with DiNozzo?"

Dunn is trying to distract Kate from her recent sadness with success. The image of Dunn slapping Gibbs is the funniest thing ever.

"You are a female version of my Gibbs!" Kate exclaims as she drinks her iced coffee. Shoot - she almost chokes on her drink.

What the hell did she just said? My Gibbs? Did she just say "My" Gibbs???

Dunn notices her shock and discomfort and she decides to ignore the glitch. Kate face is bright red and mercifully Dunn changes the subject again, she enjoys her company, it has been a long time since she had a great conversation with someone out of the base and it is really good.

She could change from her diving suits and shorts into a feminine dress more frequently and maybe tomorrow night, she would join them at the bar and enjoy DiNozzo's face when he sees her dressed up! Yeah, it has to be the blue dress and Dunn smiles inside.

"Well, Kate, it's getting dark and you can't go back walking. I've the bike out there, can I give you a ride?" Dunn offers.

--------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Gibbs is driving DiNozzo crazy.

"Where the hell is Kate, DiNozzo?"

"I don't know, boss, maybe she met some of the naval officers and…"

TWACK he got it from Gibbs.

"Boss, I really don't know." DiNozzo is rubbing his slapped head.

Gibbs tries calling his agent again, but no reply.

"Where the hell are you, Katie?" He whispers in horror. She is NOT picking up her phone. He glances at the time, it is past nine - not too late, but he doesn't know his surroundings and he doesn't like the unknown, he hates surprises and he hates it that she is out of reach.

"I'll get McGee to track her, boss, her mobile is on, and she is just not picking it up," DiNozzo calms the angry grizzly bear.

Within minutes, McGee is getting shouted at long distance by his boss!

Abby tries to calm him down: "Easy, Gibbs, there must be another satellite that blocks the signal, so that we can't track Kate, but I am sure she is fine, her mobile is on, and Kate is just not picking it up, Gibbs, no big deal."

Abby comes out about another scenario, and regrets it a few seconds later: "Or she might just be in a place where we can not track her, it is also possible." Abby is bombarding her boss about various possibilities. It was the wrong move!

"Abby! You mean Kate is trapped?" Gibbs shouts at the laptop screen.

"Gibbs! That is NOT what I said, please Gibbs, calm down!" Abby is losing her mind. McGee is nodding his head furiously besides her.

"I DON'T CARE! TRY EVERYTHING! JUST FIND HER, I DON'T CARE HOW, I WANT RESULTS!!!" Gibbs shouts and slams the laptop down before McGee manages to answer "yes, boss."

"UHHH, Gibbs is in one of his moods, we better hurry" Abby says to McGee as she slurps her Caf-Pow.

---------------------------------------------

At the same time, as Abby and McGee scramble to find Kate.

A motorcycle passes by, then:

DiNozzo hears the door creaks open.

"Hi, guys," Kate greets them gleefully as she walks in with two boxes of pizza, a few bottles of beer and iced coffee. Her hands are full, her face is flushed. She looks happy.

"KATE! Where the hell were you?" Gibbs greets her with a shout.

AT the same time:

"UHHHHH, pizza!!!" Dinozzo greets her excitedly, he is dying from hunger.

"I was with Sedna, like I told you.We talked, I found her boat. Oh Gibbs, you would have LOVED her boat, I walked by the compound, its huge! And…" Kate's babbling is cut short by her boss, as he is striding towards her in anger, standing inches in front of her.

"Why didn't you answer your mobile, Special Agent Todd?" Gibbs hisses at her.

Kate is surprised by his reaction, what an unexpected greeting. She jumps slightly and moves one step back, looking into his intense gaze.

Tony is already eating his pizza, looking at the duo with his mouth full, he feels bad for Kate, who is about to taste Gibbs's wrath.

"I did, I mean, it is on!I didn't, I didn't switch it off" Kate stutters, trying to recall her memories.

"Oh, boss," Tony tries to talk on Kate's behalf, that it is no big deal, and his boss is damn grouchy today. Tony loves Kate because Kate remembers his stomach condition - hungry; but Gibbs's glare shuts him up.

"I must have left it in my coat! I took off my coat. I was HOT!" Kate is angry, after the initial shock, she doesn't deserve this treatment, she didn't do anything wrong.

Kate angrily shoves the iced coffee into Gibbs's hand. "Here, Boss! To cool down yourtemper," and she storms to her room and slams the door shut - she is NOT hungry anymore!

"Uhh Kate, my iced coffee, please," Tony tries to claim his coffee, but Kate just glares at him and closes the door.

Gibbs left Tony and goes into their room, along with his iced coffee.

Tony sighs: "Damn! Talk about chemistry!" He gazes at the closed door and continues eating, minus his iced coffee.

----------------------------------------

It is almost two in the morning.

Kate couldn't sleep a wink because of her headache, and she is hungry. The lobster salad she ate earlier was not enough.

Gibbs couldn't sleep a wink because of DiNozzo's snoring, anger and hunger. They are both too stubborn to return to the working area for the pizza.

So Tony ate the entire pizza by himself while Gibbs and Kate are thinking about the delicious scrumptious pizza on the table – how pathetic.

Be damn with her pride, she is hungry! She rouses and walks out the room,opening her door as quietly as possible, being careful, not to wake…

Yeah right! As Kate sees her boss in his boxer shorts and white shirt, eating - taking a big bite on the cold pizza. He is standing by the table, his back is facing her, Kate smiles and she tip toes towards him.

"Hungry Gibbs?" she asks, standing very close behind him.

"Yes!" Gibbs answers without hesitation.

"Me too!" she quickly grabs a slice of pizza and takes a huge bite.

They both make yummy noises, cold pizza has never tasted this good. Fortunately, Tony only managed to eat one large pizza, leaving both of them another large pizza, untouched!

As Kate finishes her first slice, then she remembers: "Uh, hang on Gibbs," she returns to her room, a few seconds later she comes out with DiNozzo's share of iced coffee and she offers it to Gibbs, who receives it with happiness in his eyes.

"Thanks," he manages to say and gulps down the offered drink.

It only takes them less than fifteen minutes to wolf down the entire large pizza and a large cup of coffee. "Thanks for dinner, Kate," Gibbs says to her.

"Don't mention it Gibbs" Kate is still eating her pizza.

"Your turn tomorrow." Kate winks at him as she rubs her full stomach in satisfaction. Then Kate hears the unmistakable sound - the horrendous sounds of DiNozzo's snoring, she feels sorry for her grumpy old boss.

"You want to switch places with me, Gibbs?" she asks

Gibbs looks at her in surprise, but before he can refuse her offer:

"C'mon Gibbs." Kate takes him by the hand and wonders: how would his hands feel against her skin, against her body, then Kate shakes her head, as if trying to shake off her lewd thoughts about her boss.

"You are the boss and I can handle Tony and his snoring, I've got three brothers, remember?" She convinced him, as she guides her boss like a five year old towards her bed.

Gibbs turns, facing her, wanting to talk to her but Kate just shakes her head at him, gently pushes him by his chest towards the bed.

Perhaps it is the late night cold pizza that makes Kate brave enough to tuck her boss into bed. A few minutes later, Gibbs is nicely tucked in Dunn's bed - comfortable.

He is so stunned by her courage that he doesn't say a word!

Gibbs is already lost in the comfortable bed, hmmmmm… nice!!!!

Large enough for him to stretch out, the mattress feels hard exactly as he likes it and the sheets and pillow keep the smell of Kate, a very feminine smell. Dreamily, he sees her walking across the room, grabbing her iPod and switching off the light. "Night Gibbs" and she left him in peace.

Days of weariness catches up with him.

He usually sleeps about five hours daily, sometimes less. Last night he hardly slept. So, being in a soft bed with Kate's smells proved to betoo good to be true, he snuggles deeper into his pillow, tucks his hands under his pillow, getting ready to sleep.

Then he touches something! Without thinking his left hand pulls it out.

Oh dear God! Kate's white bra! He smirks and smiles, ogling the bra in his hand. He couldn't help himself but take a quick look at it.

Oh yeah he is not DiNozzo. He can't calculate her size by just looking at the bra; but he had wives, girlfriends and flings. He would say her size is all that he needs to fill his hands with her silky feminine roundness. He sighs and quickly tucks it back under his pillow, feeling a little guilty as he had invaded her privacy and he exhales happily, he goes back to sleep with Katie's bra under his pillow.

A Few minutes later, he dozes on and off,when he hears DiNozzo's yelp, followed by howls of pain. The woman must be really angry, he always wanted to stuff DiNozzo's mouth with socks but never actually did it!

Then he hears something else, something that really wakes him up from hisnap.

Gibbs hears Kate squeaking in annoyance: "Tony! It's NOT funny! Stop it! Don't! STOP!!!" and she yelps in desperation.

He kicks his blanket. No way in hell DiNozzo is going to behave inappropriately towards her. He marches to the room and opens the door with such a force that it slams open.

What he sees only fuels his anger:

DiNozzo is on top of Kate. He is tickling her, they are in the middle of the bed, and Kate is thrashing and struggling to contain her laughter, while Tony is furiously tickling her.

The slammed door shocks the monkeys, especially the male Italian monkey.

Before Tony even says a word, Gibbs signals him to shut up!

"MOVE AWAY from her! And LET HER GO!" Gibbs said to him.

"We are joking Gi…" Tony defends his action.

"Do that one more time, and I will kick your sorry ass so hard you wouldn't be able to sit for months, UNDERSTAND, DINOZZO?!" Gibbs said in rage.

"Yes, boss!" Tony quietly said as he straddles off Kate.

Kate is stunned! Not moving,shocked by Gibbs's outburst. Her boss's temper is getting worse by the day, they are just joking around. The man has no sisters, he wouldn't understand.

"Kate! Go back to your room!" Gibbs barks.

Without saying anything, Kate quickly stands up, kicks DiNozzo on the shin for revenge and leaves the room.

As she walks pass him, Gibbs notices her ample breasts – of course, she is bra less. Dear God, I am too old for this, and Gibbs kneads his head. Bloody DiNozzo, there is a pang of jealousy in his heart and a touch of possessiveness.

He knows they were just playing. Of course they are still more in touch with their fun childhood than he ever was, and they know how to recreate those days.

He mustn't punish them for doing that, it could be their escape: like his boat for him. He is old enough to understand, to allow them their little games, the games that can keep you sane in their job.

He knows that he is overreacting. He just doesn't like anybody else touching his female agent. Right, not his, but she is not going to belong to anybody else. Talk about possessiveness.

"What an egoistic thought, Jethro!" murmurs his good angel.

In Dunn's room:

Kate glances at the time as she settles on the bed, it is almost three in the morning. She quickly gets comfortable under the blanket, she can smell traces of him, she is going to sleep like a baby!

She sleeps on her side, slips her hand under the pillow, then realized something. She hides her bra under her pillow,she has been doing that for years: bra and gun! Gibbs must have touched it!

---------------------------------

In the other room, DiNozzo and Gibbs hear Kate's laughter.

"She is losing her mind, boss, you need to slap her once in a while!" DiNozzo complaints

TWACK Gibbs slaps his head before he settles himself on the bed, and Gibbs grins, she knows!

---------------------------------------------------

The next morning.

Kate feels better this morning, she slept peacefully.

After a quick shower she dresses in her jeans and blouse. While still buttoning the last button she strides in the office room. The Californian sun enters the wide windows and the open door lets the warm breeze in. The smell of the sea mixed with fresh coffee invades the room. She is going to miss this weather.

Gibbs is there, sitting by the corner of the table, legs crossed nonchalantly, the omnipresent cup of coffee at the side of his elbow. He is studying interestedly a little object, rolling it between his long fingers.

Sedna is standing in front of him, still in her diving suit, her hair wet and Kate notes her cheeks are red and her golden eyes are sparkling excitedly as she talks in a low voice.

"Look, Gibbs, I don't know much about explosives, but enough to know what this is and it is not the stuff we use to train our dolphins."

Gibbs is still rolling the little thing and seems to be carefully choosing his next words.

"Yeah it is, but it is a very old one. I guess it could have been into the pool for years, trappedsomewhere," he murmurs.

"C'mon, Gibbs! Much too clean and smooth for that, no traces of oxide or algae as you could expect if that would be the case and you know it," Dunn states.

"Yeah I know, well doc, you think we are facing something." He straightens in his chair and looks directly into her eyes. Dunn is about to speak but she stops, biting her lower lip and closing her eyes. Gibbs could see her rising tears.

Perceiving her emotion, Kate wants to get closer to her and say - say what? Say that all is going to be right?

Say nothing! Gibbs's words are still fresh in her mind after all these months: "Don't get involved, Kate, it is not good for the case and not good for you."

Oh yes, It was loud and clear!

Why she has this weakness when it comes to young women?

Perhaps she was always surrounded by men, brothers at home, male agents at her work. Well, Abby is there! But Kate knows that shelacks female friends in her life and she is ready to be soft about women and she will get undeniably involved and it is not good for her judgment. As the facts had proved in the recent past, Gibbs must have reasons!

So she keeps quiet, still standing at the door frame and thinking: she should leave it alone, he knows what to say, and don't let him know that you are developing this friendship with her, that you feel sorry for the dolphin as well, he'll laugh in her face.

Surprisingly, Gibbs is not laughing at all, he is not even smiling.

He stands up and grabs Dunn's shoulder, giving a little squeeze.

Dunn can't feel his warm hand trough the neoprene suit, but the bare pressure is comforting. She looks up him and sees concern in his eyes, not just professional interest but concern for her, as a person. Maybe he is not a bastard.

"Doc, trust me. What's wrong? What do you think it means?" Gibbs asks the distressed doctor.

She blinks and releases a sigh, shaking her head and saying nothing. The hand on her shoulder increases the pressure, affirming what she is reading in his eyes. Sedna feels the force of his determination and his honesty.

Suddenly, she remembers where and when she had seen him before, Oh my God, it was_ him, why I didn't remember him before?_ She knows that she can trust this man.

"OK, Gibbs. Let me look for something you have to see."

He nods and retracts his hand releasing her from his hold but keeping their eyes locked for a few more seconds. She is not uncomfortable under his piercing eyes, she is able to resist his silent inquisition in a way not many people could. Gibbs knows that his gut was right about her, she is an ally to his team and she is strong. He likes strong women.

His mobile rings at this moment but he does not answer until he receives her affirmation. "I'll be back," she says.

He smirks and nods approvingly, answering the call as usual: "Gibbs".

-------------------------------------------------

Tony is coming back from the cafeteria where he had a good breakfast and received some questioning looks from the guys. He knows that they wonder where the pretty brunette and the grumpy man are. He kept his gaze fixed on his plate and wolfed down his scrambled eggs and sausages.

Thank God, the pretty brunette was not there, commenting on cholesterol and all that babble that she normally uses to ruin his meals with. Tony hurried up and made his way to his food while Kate was still humming and singing terribly in the shower and Gibbs with his damned three miles daily run.

Of course, the old marine does not give up, not even in those days, when his old wounds show up mercilessly. Evidently the warm weather helps with that particular problem. He knows that each winter in DC makes him a bit grumpier than the last.

Oh, yeah. DiNozzo has suffered three of those bad mood winters. On second thought, it had changed with Kate's arriving at NCIS, the boss still has his bad days, but there are less often than before.

True! He still receives some slaps and threats due to his interaction with the petite brunette but the slaps had diminished in number as well as in intensity or there is a possibility that he is finally getting used to them.

---------------------------------------------------------

He ponders the matter as he opens the door to the office and enters. Everybody is there but he doesn't even receive a look from his boss who surely notes that DiNozzo is coming back from breakfast, some minutes late.

All eyes are focused on the wall screen that seems like a real window to the NCIS autopsy room. Ducky is there, talking willingly as ever about his findings regarding the opened corpse he has over the table.

Nothing would be strange, if not for the fact that this must be the first autopsy performed by the qualified Dr Mallard on a dolphin.

Sedna stands at the fore position and Ducky is evidently and carefully with his caring professional tone talking to her in the first place. She listens to his words but her eyes are focused on the carcass of Kenny, her beloved dolphin, on the cold slab.

Seeing the body of Kenny, DiNozzo recalls some classified material he read about the dead marine. He means the dead dolphin service; and all these would be associated with phrases and comments from the staff he interviewed yesterday. It seems that the death of this animal is a serious case to these people in NNMP,a really serious case.

His years in the police force had taught him to believe in the spoken evidence, and the spoken evidence was really strong or people here are suffering from collective fantasy.

----------------------------------------------------

"It surprised me!" Ducky is talking, walking along the dolphin's body as the camera moves to focus, when he reaches the caudal fin that overpasses the length of the table he turns back and walks over to the head once more.

Palmer stands one step behind his mentor, following his movements as if he was waiting for the final act of the opera.

"As I was saying, my dear: I was amazed, but somehow confused, see…" he goes over the other table where the body of the man autopsied was before.

"I found all the damage, the cause of death was the explosion_ per se_ I found severe intra cranial edema and hemorrhage, hemo neumothorax with lungs collapsed and disruption of alveoli, by the low oxygen saturation and high CO 2. We could assume that the death happened about one minute after the explosion," Dr Mallard keeps his index up in the air and resists the urge of adjusting his lens with his gloved finger.

Ducky continues: "The curious thing is that I also found multiple fractures in his legs and pelvis as if he was struck by a large and heavy object, it was bleeding at these fracture focuses, so I am positive, these were produced immediately after the explosion and before death. It is the classical "tertiary wave effects" collision with stationary objects." Ducky stretches his neck out as he could see him from behind Dr Dunn, who is occupying the full screen.

"Oh, sorry Duck." Dunn takes two steps back while Gibbs stands and takes her place, in front of the screen. She is going to her seat when Gibbs reaches out and grabs her arm. "Stay here, I want you to see. So, Ducky, the conclusion is… "

"Well Jethro, as I was saying before I was surprised, he has no fractures in his thoracic cage or arms, just the lower body and there were no objects in the water as the explosives squadron assessed and described the crime scene!"

"What about the diving tanks?" Gibbs reminds the ME.

"It was still attached to his back when the body was recovered and so solidly attached that one of his shoulders was dislocated but, Jethro, we human beings have an unforgivable anthropocentrism that leads to wrong results. I remember a case when my forensic professor..."

Gibbs exhales loudly and smirks impatiently. "Duck."

"I'm getting to it, Jethro, I'm getting to it, and my mistake was to start the autopsy with the human body. But it is the dolphin who gives us more information. Your Kenny, Sedna my dear, died in the explosion as well. I suppose he was further from the explosive device in aspect to the Lieutenant, although it is strange. His skin is much more affected and the fat tissue shows two massive spots of subcutaneous bleeding and diffuse petequial injuries as hewould have been much closer, his lungs have few injuries and his heart and diaphragm are almost untouched! Therefore, I have to think that the dolphin was not as close as the Lieutenant."

Sedna is blinking at the screen. Despite her hidden emotion she tries to be professional at this.

"Ducky, the thing is, please tell me more about the classical injuries in underwater explosions, you know forensic pathology is not my field but I opened dolphin carcasses in relation with all those crazy sonar things and from seismic prospecting too and they were not massive but the injuries were similar"

"Well, Sedna, my dear, these tertiary injuries are related to collisions as I told you. Secondary blast injuries are mostly produced by displaced debris, which is not the case, and the primary ones are caused by the initial shock wave. The organs where liquid gases interfaces exist are more affected: lungs, sinus, ears; but your dolphin had light brain damage and his lungs were in good condition, that's why I presumed he was further."

"Well Duck, you wouldn't have known, but dolphins dive with no air in their lungs," Sedna explains.

"What!!!!" This time it was the incredulous exclamation from Gibbs that distracted them.

"Are you telling that they dive in apnea, Doc? I could understand that, sure, I can do that too, keep the air in and release it slowly as they consume the oxygen? Is that it?" Gibbs is shocked at the new facts.

"Not exactly, they can dive very deep although they don't most of the time. They are skilled to do it and they can only reach these depths with no barotraumas due to their respiratory adaptations, they release all the air before diving, so this interface air gas disappears, their lungs are normally collapsed during diving"

Dr Mallard's mouth was forming a silent "O". He didn't know that dolphins can do that.

Gibbs says quietly to Sedna: "See, that's why my gut told me you have to stay."

And to Ducky: "What now?" he asks the astounded ME.

"Well, Jethro, I'm going to review all my findings with this new light. Thank you my dear," he smiles at Sedna who smiles back at him sadly, nodding.

"OK Duck, call me ASAP with the result!" He closed the laptop and cut off the connection.

----------------------------

-Tbc-dolphinsiren-novasupernova2007-BETA (MV)

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR BETA.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**The Playful Dolphin **

After the communication with the ME is cut off, Sedna slowly wakes up from her nightmare, realizing that there is more than just an accident, something that goes a while back, something that affected her personally. She feels numb.

She opens her left hand, palm up. Nestled in the middle of her palm is what she thought Gibbs had to see; it is identical to the object recovered when the training pool was cleaned.She asks for them to speak in private and he points to the door silently. His agents just** focus on** their screens with no word, as usual.

---------------------------------------------

They are now outside her office, near the entrance to the restaurant. There is a bench made of bricks, which the morning sun does not warm because of the bougainvilleas that fall from the roof like a pour of colorstand leave he place fresh and relatively hidden from curious eyes or ears.

Evidently she has some type of fear about someone eavesdropping what she is going to tell the senioragent. They sat in silence and she showed him the probable evidence that she has been keeping a secret for more than a year.

"From where exactly did you obtain this one, Doc?" His voice was quietly calm and low.

Sedna knows he is deeply interested: the tips of his thumb and middle finger adjust the little thing as his left hand dives in his pocket for the plastic bag where the other evidence is. He compares them even though has no doubts she had been right, they are identical.

She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly and their eyes met. He waits for her to speak, not rushing her. Somehow he knows that the whole thing is too shocking for her.

Her eyes are getting wet and their golden color seems even stranger under the film of unreleased tears. "Kenny brought it to me, the morning after the day that John, my second husband, passed away in a diving accident. Here in the bay, one and a half year ago. He started to work in recovering objects from an old shipwreck… "

She stops talking, choosing the best way to put in reasonable words what was in her mind. "You know, I never believed that it was an accident. John was the best diver I had ever seen. He was a sub aquatic archeologist and a fairly good one. A hell of a diver, he had more hours underwater than a navy pilot in the air." She is still so proud of him.

"What makes you suspect that it was murder? Were you there by chance???" Gibbs tries to understand the_ previously unknown_ situation better.

Sedna shakes her head. "I wasn't. At the time Kenny was almost free in the sea pen, not in a pool like now," she blinks, holding back her tears -_ was, is_ a more proper word. Kenny is dead now suddenly, she feels the quietness and loneliness

Sedna continues: "…and he used to jump over the net and follow John to the open sea. I think Kenny was near the place when the explosion occurred, not close enough to be injured, but to know._ He_ must have known."

At this point Gibbs arches up one eyebrow and half closing the opposite eye in disbelief and he asks skeptically: "Doc, are you telling me that you have a dolphin as a_ witness_???"

She looks at him, nodding seriously. "I'm telling you exactly what happened, it is the facts, you are wrong in the verbal conjugation. I don't have anymore. I_ had a witness._ You could give me credit or not, you could believe it or not, but I assure you dolphins are extremely intelligent and they have an 'ethical' concept some similar to the one we humans have."

"Doc, are you saying they are capable of judging us? I have never …"

"Well, you are going a bit too far. I am not saying 'judge', perhaps we could say they understand; they know us and they are capable of 'love and loyalty'." Sedna pauses in her sentence, trying to express her knowledge and belief.

"If you allow me to use this word - A dolphin that shares his or her life with humans, adopts them as part of the pod and behaves the same they would do with other dolphins. They caress us, take care of us, play with us. They even joke with their human caretaker…us…me…John," Sedna explains.

Gibbs look_s_ at her still incredulously. One part of his brain is telling him the new information is NOT possible. They are "animals", on the other hand it was the fact that the Navy prefers them instead of some hi-tech machine. They must have a good reason for it. Above all he HATES everything hi-tech.

Well, Machine versus Nature, he knows the answers. Besides, his gut is telling him that it's true, despite the CO's statement that doctor Sedna Dunn is_ CRAZY_ about her dolphins and something more. Yeah, Gibbs suspects that this_ 'crazy'_ was related to whatever happened among them before.

"They said that it was an unexploded old mine, but I'm sure that it wasn't," Dunn swallows her tears roughly, embarrassed at herself.

Gibbs nods lightly as she stops again. Her eyes focused on the floor suddenly moves, following the flutter of a white butterfly against the deep purple of the flower cascade in front of them. He realized she has her fists in her lap and her shoulders are firmly uptight, all of her body language denotes rage.

He leans over, invading her personal space and tries to encourage her to tell more. "So?"

Sedna comes back from her past, somewhere she was and her eyes meet his. "I know it wasn't an accident, Gibbs, I tried to investigate the accident, BUT it was no use! I am blocked by a wall, Gibbs. An invincible wall, you surely know what I am talking about, another military department is involved. There were so much more and the case, the case is closed, as an accident, that wall was built by the Navy or someone…higher, that I am sure of! I knew people, and their hands were tied."

At the light of the sun playing with the shadows of the bougainvilleas he sees the line that a single tear leaves on her face while running down her cheek. Not daring to wipe it off with his hand, Gibbs searches in his pocket and offers her his immaculate handkerchief. "Take it, you women never carry one and you cry a little more than us men." He reaches his objective, to make her smile.

"Thanks Gibbs," she blows her nose and sighs. "I'm sorry, this is the first time I have talked about it with someone and you know what? I miss him."

"Yeah, Doc, I know." Gibbs contemplates her but his deep blue eyes are even sadder than her face is, and something deeply hidden arises for a second before being replaced by his unreadable normal expression.

"What happened? Why did you resign to know? I guess you are not the type that could be frightened." He asks the woman sitting next to him.

"Easy, Gibbs: they called me and said that had investigated to their best capabilities and it had been an unfortunate accident and stating that it was John's mistake, besides they threatened to kick me out of NMMP. In other words, fire me. And I had to take care of the dolphins,_ my dolphins_. The Navy Big Boys do not know that I had_ this,"_ and she touched his hand with the tip of one finger.

"And you decided to wait," Gibbs takes over her words.

Sedna smiles, sadly but unquestionably: "Think I was waiting for_ you."_

Suddenly, everything makes sense. Out of her despair, she smiles - wide and brilliant, a spark of pride shines, replacing her sad teary eyes. She stands up. "Come! I'll show you."

----------------------------------------------------

Kate goes back to her sit with her second cup of coffee with milk and sweetener. She rolls her eyes at Tony, who is standing by the window looking - actually spying. Kate glares at the impudent man. Looking at the corner from where his Boss and the sexy Doc had disappeared out of his sight about twenty minutes ago.

"Toooony! Get back to work or Gibbs will give you the hardest slap of your life if he catches you spying on them, instead of working." Kate warns her Italian partner in crime.

"C'mon Kate, I 'm not spying!!! In fact, I AM working!" Tony answers conceitedly

"And what do you call this work of yours??? Or perhaps peering at the Doc's ass, Tony?" Kate asks him.

"Nooo!!!" Tony really looks offended, "I wonder what she is going to show him, she had something in her hand. Classified material, Kate? We are a team. How can he expect us go forward and search for information if they hide information from us, huh???"

Kate is very serious, her brown eyes darkened. "I barely believe what are you doing, Tony! You have worked under Gibbs for almost five years and you don't trust him?"

"No, no, Kate, I trust him completely! It's just that sometimes he thinks he can solve things without our help." Tony is frustrated with his head slapping boss!

"Look, Tony. I thought about it '_your_ way once and voiced them. You were there, remember!!! We were talking about Gibbs and his reluctance to share information with us and Ducky told that we must value the Boss's method, and that the fact he didn't share some specific information is not because he doesn't trust us! He is protecting us!"

Kate is about to go on, explaining to Tony when he interrupts her rudely - as usual! "Kate, that was different! That was a clear case of terrorism!!! And how do you know it's not now the same thing? " Dolphin's terrorism!!! " C'mon Kate, don't be…" suddenly his speech is interrupted.

Tony gives a huge laugh, watching from the window as the sound of two known voices approaches. DiNozzo goes back to his chair as quickly as possible. The man sits and disguises his hilarity with his best innocent face and opens one file at the instant that Kate is going to ask about what's going on outside. The door opens and Gibbs and Dunn are back in the office.

Dunn enters and peers at both special agents with an amused grin over her face while still talking to someone outside. She goes inside her room and comes back with a large towel in her hand.

Tony looks at her - not even trying to hide his admiration - at her figure. Damn! She is hot!  
The diving suit she is wearing is short, like the ones that used by surfers with the front zipper half open, letting him see, or he says enjoys the white wet top she is wearing underneath the wet - very wet suit! Tony is lost in his sweet, wet dream.

What a sight!!! Tony contemplates Sedna and all that had caused his previous laughter is forgotten. Maybe when the case is closed, before he goes back to DC, he could ask her out for dinner, because despite her weirdness she is sexy as hell and his experience says she is not going to judge his previous flings or one night stands at all. Would she say yes? DiNozzo wonders.

But Kate does not stay seated, her curiosity wins and with a subtle wild grin she shows her teeth to Tony who is looking at the toned butt wrapped in neoprene as Dunn goes outside again with the towel, but she is so distracted with what she witnesses in the front hall of their room. It leaves her in shocked silence.

Gibbs is standing on the hallway, soaked from head to toe. His normally silver hair seems dark grey over his forehead and is still dropping over his face. He takes his shirt off with no hesitation in front of Sedna, still disturbed by the vision.

Kate notices: the fact that a man as intensely private as him is, feels comfortable in front of her. After all, he never changes his shirt in the office like Tony or other agents do.

"Oh, I got to learn from the woman", Kate reminds herself. Even though she is used to working with men, they never forgot the fact she is a woman; but Sedna is different! She has a way of making men treat her as their peer.

Even being sexy as hell, how did she manage to do that? She has to ask her. And Kate looks at Sedna wrapping the towel around Gibbs's waist with the expert movement that only a mother (or a lover) would have done.

Kate keeps looking at them as Gibbs takes his shirt over his head and goes to unzip his pants from under the towel, she sees his bare feet and his shoes are aside - dry! What in hell happened??? She wonders.

"It was really funny, Gibbs!" Sedna says. "You have lightened my crappy mood." She stands in front of him, her hands on her hips shaking her head and smiling.

"Put your wet clothes over there, I'll send someone to take it to the cleaners. Don't worry, the Project will pay the laundry bill, you'll have it back in a couple of hours, dry and clean."

Kate watches how they laugh together. How on earth she manages to do that with Gibbs, her hard ass boss, she wonders. Have they reached this kind of friendship in a few hours? Maybe Tony is right, and they are "twins"!!!

Gibbs nods, giving her his classic smirk "Don't worry_ about it,_ doc. I really enjoyed the whole thing." He takes his shoes and socks in hand and turns to enter in the office, and only then, he sees his Kate, who is still standing by the doorframe.

She can't help her eyes roaming over his entire physique. For a second, he thinks she is actually admiring him, if it's possible. Her mouth is slightly opened and her eyes are big and dark chocolate, traveling up and down over his bare upper body.

He can't help but to be shaken at her attentive watch, but Gibbs manages to disguise his surprise by the time she manages to hide her reaction. Gibbs crosses the doorframe as she practically jumps aside to make room for him to walk in but fails, her shoulder grazes his bare chest.

"What, Agent Todd? Never saw a man in a towel before?" He asks his female agent.

That is NOT Gibbs! Not at all - his voice is smooth and has a subtle caressing tone and Kate feels how her face blushes violently. She can't find a suitable answer and he is already on his way to the shower, passing in front of the quietly amused look from DiNozzo who follows him_ with his sparkling eyes_ saying: "nice water Boss?"

And he got both shoes hitting him - on his chest! Outside, Kate is still catching her breath, shocked by her boldness as well as his reaction.

Sedna approaches with a very little meaningful smile and smirks at her, whispering almost in her ear (to avoid being heard by DiNozzo):"Yeah boss, sureeeee. I saw something before but nothing like that, though!!! Isn't it what you had wanted to answer, Agent Todd? "

Kate just sighs as a valid answer and Sedna smiles again. Kate curses herself, "Oh my, if she noticed, surely he did too!"

----------------------------------

Gibbs strides into the bathroom leaving his two agents behind him. He is not concerned about the curious DiNozzo but he is astounded by Kate's reaction. He kicks the door shut and turns the hot water tap on full blast. The steam starts to invade the small cubicle as he peels the towel off and hangs it next to the shower cubicle.

Then he notices two small pieces of algae entangled in his forearm. Absentmindedly he removes the sticky things and let them drop in the trash can. Touching his still wet skin, he remembers how surprised he was by the touch of a dolphin's smooth, wet, clammy skin.

Sedna had called her "Sheryl". The Doc asked her to come closer to them, at the edge of the wood deck and the dolphin approached them as she whistled a long and sharp tone. Gibbs could have sworn that the dolphin named Sheryl was looking him in the eyes as she reached the edge and settled her head over the wood deck.

He recalls all that had happened very clearly and detailed: Sheryl lets her breath escape from the blowhole at the top of her head, quick and rough. The"ffffffffffu" sounds spreads around them, along with wet warm spray that bathed his face. Surprised, he retreated one step back and the dolphin made a strange noise and she kept looking at him.

"What the hell!" he whispers.

"One could say that she is apologizing," Dunn explains.

Sherryl changes the angle of her nose and it is now pointing to Sedna's feet. Smiling, the doctor says: "Gibbs, this is 'Sheryl'. Sheryl, he is_ Gibbs!_"

He notes she said his name "Gibbs" in a quite distinct tone. Could the dolphin recognize him by name? " Dear God," he murmurs in awe.

The dolphin makes a strange noise again, a rolling like sound, like "rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and swims back a bit, emerging with half of her body out of the water and sinks back, looking at them expectantly.

Sedna laughs." She likes you!!! In fact, she is inviting you."

He opens his eyes wide. "What?"

"Inviting you to enter the water, Gibbs," Sedna explains him as if the thing should be blatantly clear.

"Well…I… look, I really don't…," Gibbs stutters, not knowing how to be blatant with a mammal named Sheryl.

Sedna looks at the dolphin shaking her head. "Not today, sweetie. He does not have a diving suit and the water is cold." and Dunn is cut short by Sheryl.

The dolphin emits again the rolling noise, this time with a little touch of "shame".  
No doubts, he is going nuts, he has got the Dunn's disease.

Sedna puts her flippers on and closes the zipper of her suit: "OK, OK, sweetie, just for a couple of minutes"

Then she said to him: "You know, she misses Kenny" and with a quick movement Sedna joins the dolphin, who gives a fast swim around and returns to her.

Gibbs watches as Sedna rests her back against the strong and long gray body and curves her arm around the base of the dorsal fin: "Look, Gibbs. She knows I'm not going to dive. I don't have my mask and snorkel with me! She notices things," she sounds so proud of her baby.

The dolphin goes to the edge of the deck bringing her in tow and moves her head pointing to him - again. Sedna chuckles, amused. "She wants you touch her. She wants touch you, Gibbs", she 'translates' Sheryl's body language.

Nodding briefly he asks her what to do. And Dunn smiles: "Just sit on the edge. She'll do her part!"

"Ok" he resigns and with no hesitation he takes off his shoes and socks, rolls his pants up to his knees and dips his two feet into the water, hissing at the cold temperature.

He doesn't have to wait for long. Sheryl is ecstatic!

The dolphin reaches his ankles with her nose and places her head against him. He is surprised by the smoothness of her wet skin. With a quick glance to Sedna he reaches out one of his hands and touches the big head and neck carefully but thoroughly and the dolphin rubs against him in ecstasy.

Sedna laughs briefly and gets out of water: "Gibbs! She really likes you! Would you dive with her? Not now… I mean, maybe tomorrow. Now, I want to show you what I promised."

He nods but keeps one eye on the dolphin and now he is sitting more comfortably, he spreads his legs and Sheryl has gotten higher in the way he could embrace her neck if he would want to. The position must be hard for her, but she adapts to the humans and their limitations.

He smiles and continues to caress the dolphin affectionately. He doesn't know how or why, but he is already subjugated by the powerful and smooth body and starts to perceive the sharp intelligence in the unreadable face. He loves horses, dogs and understands them but a dolphin was something completely different.

Sedna whistles and Sheryl looks at her. "Sheryl!_ Gibbs_, your new friend, wants to see how skilled you are, show him!" Sedna asks the dolphin.

Reluctantly, the dolphin parts from his touch and Sedna asks him for the found object, and a coin. He gives them in silence and she keeps it in her closed hand as put her arm into the water grazing the dolphin nose.

"Sheryl !!! I want you see this," and she splashes on the water with one of her flippers.  
The dolphin put her head half in the water with her nose pointing at Sedna's hand and Gibbs feels a strange tickling sensation on his feet.

"It's all right, Gibbs. You can leave your feet there, what you are feeling is just her biosonar. It won't harm you, well, it is not really the ultrasound, is the part we could hear. She is just studying the thing, she doesn't need her vision," Sedna says.

"Wow, it feels strange." He keeps looking at the chain of little bubbles that the dolphin is letting escape from her blowhole.

"Is her sonar system as accurate as the "real" sonar, Doc?" After he said that, he realized, how could he doubt nature and its power!

She laughs: "Gibbs, the "real" sonar is this of hers!!! We, humans just have a poor copy, you know? It's called Gray's paradox, when engineers try to imitate nature, get much less perfect results, it's a matter of not perfect materials, I guess".

" Probably it is" , he thinks in silence. Then, she shows her the other hand with the hidden coin, and lets Sheryl inspects it. Sedna stands up and at her signal Sheryl comes forward and puts her head between his knees. "Please, Gibbs, cover her eyes with your hands she can't do it by herself"

He arranges himself in order to reach her eyes and not fall into the water at the intent. As he does it, the dolphin pushes her head over him trying to increase the contact. Sedna throws away the metallic objects as far as she can and makes a special whistle. The dolphin retreats from his hands and waits, she knows what her trainer is going to order.

Then she changes her respiratory rhythm, breaths twice, exhaling deeply and Dunn waits as well, when she thinks the object has reached the bottom, makes a sharp signal and says: "Sheryl, bring it to me, the first!"

Dunn shows her index finger up, the dolphin exhales one more time, dives and goes away.

"Doc, can she recognize - numbers? I mean one, two etc?"

"In fact, they_ learn_ our system easily, she can count till ten, made additions and subtractions, their brains are used to process much more complicated data living in the wild, Gibbs." By then, Sheryl has already swam back to them. She opens her mouth and offers her tongue with the object on its pink and wet surface. Sedna takes it and gives her an emphatic nod.

But Sheryl considers the nod not good enough. She rests her head on the rim, between Gibb's legs and offers her tongue, again.

Sedna laughs: "She wants you caress her tongue!!! She really likes you Gibbs. See, only her friends are allowed to do that!"

His inquisitive mind can't help but ask what in him the dolphin perceived as different, why does she like him? How can she judge on what's to like or not: "Why does she like her tongue to be touched? And why you think she likes me?"

"It's her most sensitive spot, like our fingertips or palms. Touching is social for dolphins and she knows you are a good guy, Gibbs."

He smirks briefly and looks up at her: "Doc, most people, including my ex wives, think I'm a bloody bastard!!!"

"Well! It seems that_ we_ think different." Sedna says, remarking "_we"._

Sheryl stays between his legs, with her mouth open; with this particular permanent grin that makes dolphins appear happy and content even if they aren't. Gibbs looks at the conic creamy color teeth along both mandibles but he feels no fear of it and he strokes the pink, wet, surprisingly warm surface.

At the signal from Dunn, she goes for the second goal, the coin; finds it and brings it as fast and accurately as she did the first. Then, she goes for her deserved second round of caresses and words of affection and praise.

Gibbs is astonished. He starts to see why the Navy prefers dolphins. The interaction with Sheryl is really good but has to go back to go back to work - to his agents. Gibbs makes the ultimate stroke to the dolphin and says: "Glad to meet you, princess, but I've really got to go."

He can't help it but to give a last "full" hug and holds Sheryl the way he could do with a lovely child. But he calculates wrong. First, Sheryl is a "_strong child_" and second, she doesn't want to break the contact…yet! She is NOT DONE with him! Dunn thought she must have like the grumpy NCIS agent!

So, when he is firmly attaching himself to her in a hug, the naughty dolphin pulls him off with a gently but sharp movement; giving no time for Gibbs to release himself. As a result of the trick, he loses his already unsafe balance on the border, so man and dolphin hit the water.

Sedna covers her face with both hands and laughs, half scared half amused. "Oh my God, Gibbs! You Ok?"

"_Sure doc_, water is nice. Just a bit cold and unexpected! "He answers, wiping the salt water out of his eyes and looking up at Sedna who shakes her head, still half embarrassed half amused.

"Forgive me, it's my fault. I should have told you. She used to do that with me when she wants me to stay, I'm so sorry," she looks at the mischievous dolphin. Gibbs glances at Sheryl, who had put her head under his arm giving him support in case he needed her help.

Gibbs thinks: she smart, thoughtful. She must have thought that there is a possibility that he couldn't swim, even he is NOT that thoughtful. He feels ashamed.

His smirk is playing over his face while he reaches the wood border and extents his hand to Sedna: "Please, doc, give me a hand to get out of here."

"Oh sure!!!" And she quickly offers her hand unworriedly.

As soon as he grips on her hand securely, he gives a sharp tug and the doctor hits the water with her best face of surprise as a half smile spreads over Gibb's face when he says : "I should had done it once you got dressed, Doc !!!"

The both of them got out of the water still laughing. The fresh morning wind made him want the hot shower he is in now, feeling the warm water sliding down his body, dragging the salt and spreading comfort to his muscles.

Out of the blue, his mind comes back to the moment when he felt Kate's eyes over his body. The steam starts to blur the mirror and he finds himself studying the misty copy of his reflected body. He wonders what exactly Kate had been watching on him when she ran those enraptured dark and velvety eyes of hers over his wet body. He wonders what was she thinking about, while those eyes, never seen before on her constantly composed face, were sliding up and down him.

He keeps studying his mirror image, trying to figure out what she had seen on him. He slides a hand over the mirror's surface clearing it from the steam blur and his reflected image is exposed again to his merciless scrutiny.

Yes, his stomach is flat, still, and his muscles are toned and in as good shape as it had ever been. He is able to fight almost as efficiently as twenty years ago. But, his hair is silver and his skin is not fresh anymore, and shows the marks and scars he got along his life traveling. Surely, she could find dozens of shapely bodies among the "flies" that DiNozzo had been alluding to during breakfast.

"Jethro! You're going nuts, man." He should slap himself. Much harder than he usually does with DiNozzo.

"What gives you any idea that this amazing, courageous, young and fresh woman could see you, old, grumpy, old fashioned and unsociable, her boss. Indeed, with_ those_ eyes…? Those eyes. The kind of eyes that, if he has any experience, after four marriages and three divorces, leaving aside the uncountable flings and girlfriends, the eyes that only an attracted_ aroused_ woman has."

"Damn it, Jethro Gibbs. You are becoming nuts, must be the abstinence that is playing bad with you. Besides, who kicks your former fling (Mary Ann) off, with no evident reasons at all, each time she comes to your door??? May be you don't like her anymore, but you don't like anybody else - by the way," he sighs.

No way to solve the problem, he is not going to knock at the door of any psychologist. They all are already crazier than you are and your problem has a name and last name: "Caitlin Todd". His problem has those big, warm and silky eyes, sliding down his body.

He knows, the medicine for his " Kate's sick " is just the work, hard work and to get himself as far from her slender , captivating body as he could. But don't try to fool yourself, Jethro…." It is not just about her body. It is her soul, her entire being that has him caught in her spell and there is not a damn thing he could do it at that.

----------------------------------------------------

-tbc-dolphinsiren-novasupernova-BETA (MV)


	6. Chapter 6

**Dolphin hero Ch 6**

" **Lobster and chocolate" **

After having permission from her boss she went to the boat, again. It was not difficult to convince Gibbs that she could obtain more information from her.

"Women talk to each other, Gibbs," Kate had argued. There were no reasons for him to refuse her request. She had finished all that he had asked her to do, while DiNozzo is immersed still in files and deciphering his own hieroglyphic notes.

Despite Kate thinking that her boss would object to her suggestion, he had accepted with a slow nod, while studying her with slightly_ distant_ eyes. Kate noticed he had been lost somewhere and his mind seems to be "distracted", if that was possible with him.

Anyway, he hadn't denied her the round and she had not had the courage of asking him why he had accepted so fast. She needs to run out of his sight for a while or she would not have been able to look him in the eyes again, after the towel incident, without blushing.

She could never have imagined that Gibbs's thoughts were running in the same direction and that he had given her the chance at the same time that he was giving himself the time he was needing to clarify his mind again and focus on the case.

Kate is having fun with Sedna, her new friend. Special agent Todd has plenty of acquaintances, but real friends are rare, and she knows that Sedna Dunn is special.

The evening started with a friendly chat,despite the incident where her sexy boss was submerged in salt water and Dunn had a ball with it.

Kate is a naturally sensitive person and she can see the deep pain in Sedna's eyes, even though they were covered slightly by laughter.

The two women's short talk becomes a friendly conversation, which then leads to a recipe exchange, then finally - a cooking and baking session in the not precisely big but surprisingly well-equipped kitchen.

Dunn teaches Kate how to make her famous lobster salad and Kate shows Dunn how to make her "Chocolate cereal cookies." It is a blast! After a short visit to the local grocery store, they dash back to the boat and start the session.

The funny thing is: alcohol is involved in the cooking session. And as an impromptu act, Kate adds a generous amount of Bourbon and rum to her cookie dough, Dunn dips her finger in the dough and slips it into her mouth. She makes yummy noises and gives Kate her thumbs up!

They both drink chilled white wine, while munching on the scrumptious lobster salad, which Kate learns to make on the spot, under Dunn's instruction.

The girls go crazy! They make enough cookies to serves a dozen of people and a generous amount of lobster salad.

Alas by the end of the night, Dunn sends Kate home on her bike – equipped with a huge tin of cookies and a container of lobster salad. Dunn guesses that the fellow agents will stay up late and they'll be hungry – having experienced it with her late husband, men will eat even though they claim to be full. The girls promise each other another night of cooking extravaganza before Kate leaves for DC.

Kate hums cheerfully - just slightly tipsy from the wine - walking through the already empty hallways. She struggles to look at her watch because of the loads of cookies and salad. It is almost ten pm.

It was a fun three hours session; she loves Sedna Dunn! The woman is fun, she bets that Abby would love her too, Kate declares to herself. Wine was consumed in their 'fun meeting' but the amount of food they ate neutralized its after effect – but Kate's face is flushed, she feels happy, warm and slightly giddy. Special agent Todd almost_ skips_ to her quarters.

Kate sings her greeting as she opens the door and peek inside with her big dopey grin - "Hiiiiiiiii" she greets them – apparently too gaily and loudly for her teammates. The three men look at her in unison.

Kate thinks that she sees Gibbs about to smile before he manages to cover his expression.

"Hiii McGeeeee." Kate greets McGee who must have arrived after she left to see Dunn. Without realizing she pats his head playfully like with a child. She is quite fond of him, the man never disturbs her, unlike bloody DiNozzo.

Tony gawks at her.

Gibbs pretends to ignore his slightly tipsy agent: "Any results, Katie?" The slipped utilization of the sweet nickname disguised by his usually strict voice.

Caitlin Todd nod sexcitedly. "Oh yeah, Gibbs! Here!"

Happily Kate places her load on the cramped table, displaying a big silver tin and a huge plastic container – the three men look at the items with great interest!

Gibbs isabout to ask his very special agent why the hell the evidence is not bagged as usual, when Kate opens the tin, followed by the plastic container.

Mild chocolate aroma spreads the instance the tin is opened! Tony swallows his saliva. McGee stares hungrily at the fabulous looking chocolate cookies! He knows that Kate's cookies are_ MEAN_ – they are damn good!

Gibbs almost chokes on his coffee, unprepared to see the food out of the containment which he thought were evidence.

Innocently his very special female agent opens the container which contains the scrumptious lobster salad from Dunn's recipe.

Kate grins at her boys, showing off the results of the baking session! Her creation!

Sedna taught her, she guided Kate and Sedna said that she has a talent! And she is now grinning proudly – just like she showed off her first caught fish to her brothers.

"That??? Results???" Gibbs couldn't help himself.

"Yeah! We ate some of it, but we made so much. So we decided to share with you …men." She is cut off by a very loud noise – the thunderous sounds of her sexy boss's laughter and the three of them gawk at their beloved boss Gibbs; and Gibbs leaves the table, heading to the head, to control himself.

The three of them gape at Gibbs – surprised by his laughter, the grumpy man seldom laughs, and Gibbs left the table hastily – to the head, to calm himself down, he was unprepared for the food in the tin and container.

" Women! They are easy to predict!!! Yeah right!"

Fortunately, DiNozzo is fully distracted by the food - but even in her tipsy state, Kate notices that Mc Gee is glancing at her, frowning and turning around to follow his boss. What the hell was going on there?

------------------------

"Tony! Stop it! No!" Kate yell sat the greedy DiNozzo.

"Auw, Kate! It looks so good," Tony praises her while salivating - in front of the food.

'No Tony!" Kate is slapping his hand away from her creation, in the middle of the cramped table. "You'll finish the entire thing!" Kate refuses to let him snatch the cookies.

Instead, she gives him five cookies and says that the rest are for the days to come. And she puts aside cookies for Gibbs and gives McGee his portion.

Tony notices that Kate gives him a bigger amount of cookies than his, damn her. "Hey!!!" Tony complains with his full mouth - munching his cookies.

"Gibbs is theboss! McGee is not greedy like you!" Kate smiles wildly to the "Italian lover" - that's what Sedna has called him - between laughs.

"Thanks Kate! They are reallygood." As usual, McGee thanks her politely, while eating his share properly, unlike DiNozzo who is wolfing his portion. And Kate beams at him and pats his head again.

DiNozzo looks at McGee with jealousy, Kate has been meaner to him since McGee arrived…Abby too!

"I'll take a shower," she decides, she feels hot and icky, the weather is warm and the wine is affecting her.

"Take care of the food for me, McGee," she assigns him

"No problem, Kate," he agrees, glaring at Tony with suspicion.

"Just smack his head if he tries," she adds as she leaves for the head. She threatens DiNozzo, she knows from experience that the man can wolf down her cookies/lunch/dinner or snack in a matter of minutes – in one sitting!

So, while Kate takes her shower, McGee guards the food. "Don't even try, Tony!"

"Probie!!!"

"No, Tony! I'll smack anybody's head or hand for touching Kate's food!"

"You are going to pay, probie!" he threatens.

"Tony, these are Kate's and the boss's cookies not mine, so please…" McGee tries explaining, but his sentence is cut short by the appearance of the boss.

"Mine?" he asks for his share.

"These are yours, boss," McGee shows him the eight cookies that Tony dare_ NOT_ touch.

Gibbssits in front of the cramped table, grabs the cookies and starts eating them. "Hmmm," he is surprised, there is a tinge of Bourbon and Rum in the cookie, as a base taste, apart from the chocolate. They are very good, he admits.

Damn! They are good! He continues eating his share, along with his coffee – it is heavenly.

Within two minute Gibbs finishes his portion and he is now hungry!

He stands up, walks up to the sink to grab a fork – opens the plastic container beside the tin of cookies and digs in.

McGee just gapes at his boss. How is he supposed to 'smack' his head? That's impossible! Just imagining it is bad enough for the probie. Oh, Kate would understand, McGee tells himself – and he lets boss Gibbs gulp down what seems to look like some sort of seafood salad.

Special agent Antony DiNozzo practically wipes his salivating mouth with his arm, looking at his boss eating Kate's cooking, "err…boss, can I have some?"

"When I am done,DiNozzo," the leader of the pack replies curtly as he eats.

Gibbs can't help himself, he manages to finish half of the lobster salad in the container – definitely great food, he comments in his heart. Then he lets out a very small burp, as a sign that he is content.

Then he raises himself – yawn – and leaves the sitting area, leaving one empty seat right in front of the half empty container with a fork still sticking in it.

The seat is up for grabs – Tony and McGee dash to fight for the seat. Tony wins and he quickly digs in, leaving McGee high and dry.

----------------------------------

There is only one toilet in Dunn's quarters to be shared by the four of them. Gibbs is about to leave the quarters, wanting to use the head located by the end of the left wing when Kate exits the head. Apple-fragranced steam escapes the small bathroom, accompanying Kate exiting the head almost hitting him.

Dear God – she is in her terry robe, her hair damp, she must have slathered lotion of over her body, as he is quite familiar with the smell of her lotion. The woman smells divine, Gibbs thinks. Someone that could never be his to own, he shakes his head, as if trying to sober up but failing.

If he could just touch and kiss her neck. Despite all his self continence he finds himself focusing on those tender and smooth spots at the sides of her neck just between it and the graceful curve of her shoulders …Oh, damn it.

All the cold and professional behavior he regained during her absence has vanished. His heartbeat is increasing as another part of him is rising: "I'm too old for this shit…." His wet steamy day dream is cut short by:

"Gibbs, you can use the bathroom, I am done," Kate informs her boss, as she towels dry her hair and walks out of Dunn's bedroom towards the living area.

Gibbs just nods, there is nothing much he can do, nothing much, only a cold shower can help him now, as he witnesses his protégée walk around in her terry robe - in front of him. He knows that their clothing supply is thinning, by tomorrow they should arrive from the laundry.

As he is about to enter the head, he hears a very displeased scream from his Katie and he grins mischievously.

-------------------------------

"Tony!!!" as she grabs Tony's left ear and pulls it.

"Ouch ouch ouch, Kate! Not me, not me! It's Gibbs! It's boss, Kate!!!" he says in pain.

"Liar! I saw you eating from the container," she is really mad, then she notices as she looks at her container which is supposed to be full of the salad.

"Oh…my…God! It's empty! You finished the salad in one sitting???" she can't believe her eyes.

"No, Kate, no! It was boss! I swear!" DiNozzo yelps in pain. Kate lets go of his red ear.

"Gibbs didn't finish it, though, but he did eat it, Kate," McGee explains.

"It's good, Kate," DiNozzo is rubbing his pinched ear.

Kate suddenly realizes that she's been mean, she bets that McGeemustn't have had a bite since he arrived, and the food is all right, but they stay up late every night – and boys are always hungry.

Kate feels guilty. She then opens the tin of cookies and places it in the middle of the cramped table, she's been meaning to share with them anyway, just not in one night, but who cares, Kate thinks, what matters is that her friends are happy and they love the food. She would never guess what a different matter her boss is thinking about while showering.

Tony and McGee look at each other, and then back and forth between Kate and the tin of cookies, before------BAM------they both grab the opened tin and try to tug it in their direction.

Not letting go of the tin, with their other hand, they eat the chocolate cookies - very suspicious of each other.

-----------------------------------------

"I'm going to sleep, guys," Kate stretches and yawns, it is past midnight. All their analyzing and filing had been done.

"Good…" Kate is about to say goodnight to them when she realizes, she stops talking as she sees three men - about to share a bedroom with two beds? Perhaps it is the after effect of the alcohol, perhaps she is just getting bolder – hmm, she rather blames the alcohol.

As the two younger guys argue over who is going to sleep on the floor, Kate opens her mouth: "Gibbs is sleeping with me. You and McGee are sharing a bedroom."

And the three of them look at her like she has lost her mind. She would swear that Gibbs face is getting pale, but it would be just her imagination.

"What??? You snore. You grind your teeth. I don't snore, Gibbs doesn't snore and I smell good. You didn't shower today, DiNozzo!" she grins and leaves them befuddled.

As soon as Kate is out of hearing range: "Watch out, boss, she sleeps with a gun under her pillow," Tony tries to be funny, "in case you…" but he stops babbling as Gibbs hits him really really hard at the back of his head.

Half an hour later, Kate is in a deep sleep when Gibbs enters the room. He stands - motionless - for a few seconds by the door, just gazing at her, sprawled on "their" bed.

Before Kate fell asleep, she told herself to be 'civil' when she sleeps, but she has failed miserably, she is now sprawled in the middle of the bed.

Gibbs closes his eyes. He kneads his temple with his thumb and middle finger. He sighs, he is way too old for this, and he is not a hormonal teenager.

But Kate looks more 'delicious' than the tender and white rosy flesh of the lobster he has just eaten - well, no no no,she is neither food for him to eat, nor woman for him to love. She is Caitlin Todd, his female agent who is asleep on the bed.

It is going to be a long night or worse, as he imagines the nights to come until they are done with the case.

Gibbs walks closer to the bed, he nudges her: "Kate…Kate, Katie." And the woman snuggles deeper into her pillows and blanket, getting herself more comfortable.

He tries rousing her again: "Katie…" he speaks as sternly as possible, but fails miserably. Thank God, she starts moving, and flips – she is now asleep on her tummy.

Gibbs arranges her on 'her side', every time he touches her skin, he feels…damn it! He is getting harder by the second. The sight, smell and touch are too much for him. So, instead of joining her on the bed, he jumps into the shower, for a very cold shower again. And finds himself remembering the hard routine of his training as a Marine. Oh!!! Yeah… THIS would be very useful now.

After his cold shower, he gets fully dressed. No way is he going to sleep as he is used to, just in his boxers, and he jumps into the bed, trying to ignore the woman that ignites his fire breathing peacefully at his back. Bloody hell, again - he can already smell her lotion and apples.

He steals a glance at her and he notices her Sig Sauer peeking out from under her pillow. He murmurs under his breath: "You don't need that when I'm next to you, Kate," as he slips it away from her.

Jethro Gibbs forces himself to ignore the intoxicating effect of his Katie.

-----------------------------

Just about the second he is about to fall asleep, he feels her hand right on his chest. He breathes deep and hard, this is insanity; how he wishes he could take her in his arms, hold her close, kiss her and make love to her.

STOP! STOP IT! You old fool! You are twenty years her senior, and what's worse, you are her boss! He scolds himself furiously. But fate is cruel to him. By this time, Kate is pressing her face to his side – just under his armpit.

OH SWELL! He feels himself getting hard again. "Oh, sorry Gibbs," Kate yawns as she apologizes. "I am a messy sleeper" and she turns to the other side – innocently.

He freezes. For one minute or so - although it seems an eternity. He stays still, arms under his head, trying not to watch her at all, not to smell her, not to hear her breathing peacefully. Totally oblivious to his torture, seconds go by. No way - he can't sleep - and Gibbs sighs, trying to decide what to do.

Suddenly he sits up, carefully and silently, takes his pillow, and more carefully, even more silently, installs himself on the floor,by the side of the bed, with a sigh of relief. At least there is now some distance between them. He still hears her breathing, but neither she nor he is within each other's reach. Good.

_**Caitlin Todd has the best sleep of her life and Jethro Gibbs has the worse night of his**_

--------------------------------

Early in the morning in the cafeteria:

"WOW! Wake up at the wrong side of the bed, Gibbs?" Dunn questions the awful looking man, sipping his coffee in the cafeteria.

Dr. Sedna Dunn is drinking her coffee, and then she witnesses the NCIS agent entering the cafeteria, he looks grumpy; usually his gang would have taken their breakfast before him and then the senior agent would arrive a few minutes before they finish.

Gibbs just gives her his curt 'hmm' and a nod as he keeps gulping his liquid drug.

Dunn is exiting the cafeteria when she sees three agents, not two, but three agents walking toward her, leading to the cafeteria.

This is what she sees: The Italian Lancelot is grinning his champion smile at her.

Kate looks beautiful; her face is shinning, bright and fresh. She must have slept well, Dunn smiles at her. The other agent looks sleepy, the man is boyish, geeky but sweet in his own way. They greet her politely, DiNozzo tries to woo her but Kate pulls him by the ear and drags him along with the group.

Sedna Dunn walks several steps away from the cafeteria towards her office. Then she freezes in her track, she almost chokes on her coffee.

Three agents + one boss four people!

She has just summed up the obvious, the reason her new friend "Kate" looks so fresh and radiant early in the morning and the big boss is that grumpy!!!

They shared a room or a bed last night and she is willing to bet her beloved 'Dolphin Siren' on it!

She feels sorry for him. He is "the boss", he is a former marine, and he is made of flesh and bones and ¨hot¨ blood, not of steel and stone. She traces her steps back and cocks her head in, through the open window of the cafeteria, just over the table that the NCIS team is occupying.

"May I offer a vacant cabin in the Dolphin siren for anyone "

-----------------------------------------------------

-Tbc-dolphinsirennovasupernova-BETA (MV)

Special thanks to our BETA, for her hard work.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter #7**

Kate is humming softly. The song she is humming, is "Love is in the air" by Air Supply. She must have listened to it as she fell asleep with her Ipod still on. Warm water is running through her shampooed hair and over her body. Oh yeah, the quarters were very quiet last night, for once DiNozzo didn't snore or maybe she slept too soundly.

Despite of a hard day ahead of them she refuses to think about it. Last night, Gibbs scheduled them to have the earliest breakfast of their lives. It would be just coffee and more coffee.

The cafeteria is closed still and fortunately she has a couple of cereal bars and an apple in her backpack. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, she is not skipping it,having learnt from experience they might miss lunch.

So, as she hums along in the shower, she vaguely notices another hum which is getting louder and clearer by the seconds. "Impossible," she tells herself. She stops humming and she can still hear the additional hum – definitely not hers! She opens the shower curtain, then:

"Kate, you sound awful." It's DiNozzo's voice!

Kate's shrill scream can be heard from the outside halls of their quarters.

"What the hell are you doing here, Tony???!!!!!"

"Brushing my teeth!" He answers her, incredulously.

"But…but…I am showering here!" she covers herself pathetically with the milky white shower curtain.

"You take too long, Kate. Gibbs is going to kick our asses if we are late," he protests.

"Tony! Get out!!!" she screams again.

"Oh, come on, Kate. Its not that I've never seen a woman's body before," Tony teases her, looking at her face which is getting redder by the second, it must be because of the hot steam or because she is annoyed.

Then Tony does the unthinkable, he threatens to pull the shower curtain from Kate's strong grip, just like he used to tease one of his older sisters.

Meanwhile, in the next room at the end of the hallway, Gibbs is just returning from his run, all sweaty and breathing deeply. He grabs a bottle of water and drinks eagerly still focused in what he has been thinking during his run. He used to think of the cases during physical training, and this method always gave great results to him.

As his breathing and heartbeat reach the equilibrium point his brain works actively and what seemed to be isolated pieces before, starts to come together as a perfectly built puzzle. Oh yes, his three mile run really helped him today, not just about the case but to make his body get tired enough to forget Kate's body…Kate's eyes… Kate's…

"Damn!!! Just forget her, Jethro!" and he gulps from his bottle and drops the remnants of water over his head and face, feeling the bliss of the cold liquid refreshing his heated skin. "Good," he sighs contentedly.

He finally got a good night's sleep last night. He accepted the offer and moved to the "Dolphin Siren". The cabin was small but comfortable and the little creaks of the wood hull sound that he loves so much and the slight pitching of the boat cradled him to sleep.

He woke up when the horizon started to turn pale and the sky still showed its star tapestry. He didn't have to cope with DiNozzo's snoring or Kate's closeness and the coffee pot had been waiting to bless him. Oh yeah, definitely good. Better than his normal sleeping under the skeleton of his boat in his sawdust smelling basement.

He hadn't seen Sedna last night, he kept working with the evidence and Abby's primary results at their "quarters" very late and came back to the boat when all was silent and peaceful.

He recalls briefly the moment he passed by the door of the Captain's (why is Captain with a capital C? If there is a good enough reason, it can stay that way) cabin and smirks. The door was open to let the oceanic breeze in.

He was surprised by a whiny sound. His curiosity won and he stepped back and peered inside carefully. Sedna was sleeping peacefully, spread on her weird round bed. Her copper hair shone against the pillow in the limited light. She was wearing an old shirt that just covered her butt, leaving her tanned legs completely exposed. But it wasn't THIS had attracted his sight.

From over her shoulder a small triangular head with darker tall ears and dark fur "glasses" around the amazing blue eyesrose - following the head a long and slender body appeared as the Siamese cat stood up and then sat and stayed there, looking at him. Two pairs of blue eyes locked and the cat gave another "meow" sound.

This time, showing the pink gums and white teeth. He doesn't like cats. So he quickly leads his way up - as he hears Sedna's voice murmuring: "Blaise, stay still!"

He smirks and wonders what the CO Smithers would think of "Blaise".

Suddenly his perfect paradise is broken. By a sharp little scream coming from the near bathroom. It's Kate's voice. No doubts at all. "What the hell is…" swiping the excess water from his face he directed his steps to where the scream came from, and the scene he sees there makes his recently reconstructed balance give up and fail miserably.

Kate just screamed again - shrilly - and the sound of it is stopped by the slam of the bathroom door. They could have sworn that the small mirror that hangs on the wall rattled badly from the impact of the slammed door.

DiNozzo's mouth is still foamy with the toothpaste. His toothbrush is still hanging from his mouth.

"DiNozzo! Get out from here now! Or…you'll be sorry!" Gibbs growls at him in rage.

Kate looks like she is about to cry, hiding behind the feeble shower curtain.

Sure - her naked wet body is covered by the flimsy plastic material, BUT Gibbs can see the silhouette of her naked body, he witnesses the curves ofher breasts and the scene fuels his anger, even more towards his Italian imp agent. For once, his anger is stronger than his desire for her.

Thank God, DiNozzo is NOT stupid enough to argue with his boss.

He doesn't argue with Gibbs, he doesn't give any excuse for his behavior. He just proves thathis boss is rather possessive and overtly protective towards his female agent. But he thinks that is something more, something that has been growing silently under his nose and that he didn't perceive before, something weird. Is it possible that his boss was attracted to their young, pretty partner? And what about her?

Tony looks at his colleague, who is more and more disturbed by the second, trying to roll the thin curtain around her body. "Ok," thinks DiNozzo: "Isn't it her, who has prejudices against relationships with coworkers, as she was involved with Major Kerry the first moment they met her at the Air Force One?

So what? If nothing had happened it is only because of Gibbs' crap "rule number12"

If the old boy is fighting himself to break or not to break the infamous rule, it is not his problem. Oh right, it is not HIS problem.

And DiNozzo for once, understands that life is not so easy and free for everyone as it is for him. He promises himself to be careful in the future. And to stop teasing her - at least in front of him.

Then:

McGee's head pops into the scene, from the opened, actually slammeddoor. "What's going…" he stops talking, he is looking at:

Kate – naked in the shower, just covered by the curtain. What a sight!

Tony – with white foam in his mouth, like a dog with rabies.

Gibbs – enraged!

All inside the very cramped 5x5 bathroom.

And Kate screams again; frustrated, embarrassed!

"GET OUT!!! All of you!!!!" As Gibbs shoves Tony out of the bathroom, he places his hand on McGee's face and pushes the geek agent who just arrived on the scene, out of the bathroom too.

Fifteen minutes later:

Kate comes out of the bathroom, looking madder than ever – storming out of the head, with just her short towel wrapped around her wet body. "This is madness!!!" and she enters her room, slamming the door closed.

This was the way the day started and things seem to get more and more complicated by second. Gibbs was in a meeting with Smithers, the CO, and the meeting ran longer than they thought it would be. The CO requested to talk with Gibbs alone. That's why the rest of the team is waiting outside his office and there are not exactly kind faces around there.

The entire thing began with Gibbs ordering them to confiscate all the personal computers, notebooks, palmtops, iPods and mobiles belonging to the NMMP staff and all who had been involved withdolphin training, transport and management. The table in Dunn's office was obviously insufficient and a set of shelves had been installed.

Sedna hadn't had anything to say about the extra space they required in her room or the extra security guard behind her door. Oh yeah, thinks DiNozzo. The boss man couldn't handle most of this gear, except for a mobile phone but he is very, very good at guessing what they would be used for.

McGee is now working on the pile of tech instruments with Abby's help from headquarters and the rest of the team left them immersed in Geek world. Tony and Kate are waiting for their boss to finish the conference with the CO.

Tony tries to eavesdrop, but just a few words are coming trough the thick walls, and all belong to the CO. Bad thing, he guesses. A pissed off Gibbs talking in a loud voice is not good, but Gibbs talking slow and low is even worse.

Kate says nothing. She is reviewing her notes and sending erratic glances to the closed door in front of her. Her boss is in a really bad mood today, he woke up very early and seems to be evading any conversation with them except the concise orders he had given with the type of voice that doesn't tolerate any replies or disagreement.

Suddenly the main door opens and the big body of Capt. Stolzer strides into the hall, shutting the door a bit too hard for military decorum. He salutes the CO's assistant who announces him by the intercom and goes into the CO's, ignoring Tony but giving Kate an almost imperceptible but kind smile that she returns more than imperceptibly, notes Tony.

He waits for the bear to enter the CO's office and to shut the door behind him, before starting to tease her: "Would you smile at him if Gibbs was here, Kate?"

She looks annoyed; after giving a quick look at the assistant who is answering the phone, she darts to Tony: "It's none of your business and it's my right to smile or not at whom I decide to, Tony!"

His laugh is more than imperceptible: "Ha!!! I want to see you doing it in front of Gibbs, sweetie."

"What, Tony? Are you jealous, too?" she replies sharply and Tony's eyes shines scornfully at her. Kate wishes she had just bitten her tongue before she said that. Tony could come to a conclusion very fast regarding her and Gibbs and did.

She is waiting for his reply and searching for an accurate answer when the door of the CO's office is opened again and everybody that were in the office, exits it. Gibbs' face is unreadable but Capt. Stolzer's attitude is more stuck up than ever and the CO calls his assistant and gives him a series of orders. Kate keeps looking at her boss. Apparently, he convinced the CO to permit them to visit the Crime Scene.

---------------------------------------------------

The permission included some restrictions, though. Dr Dunn was authorized to go there with them, on board the "Dolphin Siren", but she was not authorized to dive there. In order to make their task easier, Capt. Stolzer will escort them, even underwater, with his best diver, one of his beloved SEALs.

Gibbs was sure than the addition of the Captain, was not to ensure their safety and give support to the investigation of the area so much as to control them and then report to the CO what the hell they pretended to find down there.

Tony's eyes follow his Boss going outside, slamming the door open, as he barks at them over his shoulder: "Grab your gear and come on board! Get McGee!" then he disappears on his way to Sedna's boat.

Kate keeps looking at the opened door and then risks a glance at Tony, saying: "Wow!"

"Boss is really pissed off, Kate," Tony mutters as he rolls his eyes to where Stolzer is on the phone calling his men. "I wonder why he hates Capt Stolzer. What do you think, Kate?"

Kate perceives no mocking tone in his voice, nor in his shining eyes as he peers at her, arching his brow. She looks at him seriously. If he can act, so does she. "Don't know, Tony. Maybe his gut is telling him something?"

There is much activity on board the Dolphin siren. The two members of Dunn's crew are folding the sails. They are going to use the engines, Kate guesses. And she is right, the bass vibration of the power motor had replaced the nice noises of wood and sails.

Kate is already used to being on board. Sedna is there. If she feels any anticipation about what they are going to find there, is not readable on her face. As a good profiler, Kate knows that the whole thing must be shocking for the doctor, but even so, Sedna is calm and professional, following the rigging with attentive eyes as she drinks a bottle of water.

Capt Stolzer is fitting out a small rubber boat at the deck board, his face is almost unidentifiable with the complete diving suit, but his bulk is unmistakable, Kate thinks. As if he felt her glance, he looks up and sends a quick smile to the petite brunette.

"Damn she is hot," he thinks: the white pants and blue shirt fits her SO WELL.

Kate is smiling back at Stolzer, when her words, if she could have replied, are interrupted rudely in the instant that her eyes are blinded by the brim of her NCIS cap, that her Boss crams onto her head as he passes by her side, planting her NCIS jacket and a life vest over her chest.

"Put them on, Kate!" he warns crudely, and then with a slightly smoother voice: "Captain Dunn's orders" and he goes over the Captain's station with not even a glance at her.

She sighs in resignation. "What's with him?" and looks to where Gibbs is talking with Sedna cordially:

"Damn him,is he just pissed with me or what?" The single thought that her former Marine, hard ass, grumpy and self-confident boss could be jealous never crosses her mind.

Not even looking at her, he walked to the skipper's station. Sedna is steering in a focused and calm manner. If she has any worry about what are they going to find, it is not reflected on her face. Gibbs stands at her side, and looks down at her hands resting on the steer. They don't need to look each other to know.

After a moment she can't help it and gives him a subtle look. She lets her eyes go up to his face and meet his now deep blue ones. And she thinks that their color is intensely blue, as if they could mirror the sapphire ocean.

Her eyes are hidden behind the sunglasses but he reads the smirk that accompanies her teasing glance easily. Sedna speaks to him looking in front of them, directly to the blue horizon. But her voice is clearly amused with a lightly touch of… he doesn't know what.

"Not bad Gibbs…not bad at all…for a man your age," and she took her glasses off, giving him a very brief, very intense glance.

And he notices just now, that she had been studying him and how the diving suit fits him. He never feels comfortable under feminine scrutiny. No way, the doctor is really good at saying anything to anyone - anytime. And she has no inhibitions to say it in front of anyone, but this time, he notices too. Sedna speaks in a low voice, so as to avoid being heard by others, not being him and he laughs inside.

He smirks down at her, meeting her shining eyes.

"How old do you think I am, doc?"

"Exactly? Well…eight or nine years older than me…depending of your date of birth, Gibbs."

He nods, slightly amused. "That was surprisingly exact, Doc, and it means you had the opportunity to snoop into my record or what?"

"Well…Gibbs, what would be wrong about doing that? Evidently…to know how old I am… you have been snooping in mine!"

Man, she never stops surprising him. And Gibbs can't help but smirk, this time with a touch of childishness, like a little boy caught red handed.

Damn it. How does she manage to get inside his mind? Maybe their brains process information in a similar way?

He laughs more openly now, tapping her shoulder in a friendly manner and before leaving, he says: "You'd be a very good cop, Doc".

--------------------------------------------

He sits alone, as he needs to think. He needs to focus on the case again and put some pieces together, not like he tried to do when he was distracted before. Maybe he is tired, he has not had too much sleep these last few days and his brunette special agent has something to do with that.

To tell the truth,she has nothing to do with it…nope!!!

The distraction is entirely his own doing, his own responsibility. You shouldn't have hired her if you knew that you'll not be able to handle the whole thing, Jethro." But, it was very clear from the beginning. She has potential, she can be a very good agent and hiring her was the only way to keep her close. That's it.

He peeks briefly at the site where Kate is elbowed against the board, giving him her back. Even under her NCIS jacket and life vest, she looks beautiful, her hair shinning with touches of red under the sun, under the hat which he rudely crammed on her head as she was about to speak to the bastard SEAL Captain.

And Gibbs recalls her early conversation with Sedna. He had come back to her office while the team was still having breakfast. He had the intention to be alone there and have a talk with Ducky, but unfortunately, Dunn was there. Well these are her quarters after all. He was just closing the door when her desk phone rang.

Gibbs sat back unto his chair while Dunn quickly answered the phone.

"Dunn," Gibbs hears her snap.

"Captain," Dunn greets the caller stiffly, but she looks surprised, Gibbs notices.

After a couple of minutes of yeses and an acknowledgement, Dunn looks uncomfortable. Gibbs wonders whether the conversation is personal.

The 'captain' he assumes is Stoltzer, the SEALs' captain. He thinks kindly of Dunn and respects her privacy. He was about to stand up and let her alone for a while, when he hears Dunn saying:

"You mean the female agent? Special Agent Todd."

"Yes…yes, I know her. I understand Captain, yes yes," Dunn is extremely uncomfortable now, as she sees Gibbs place his ass back on the chair.

His face is stiff - as stiff as a board. He crosses his hands in front of his chest, and keeps looking at Sedna talking on the phone.

"It is Special Agent Todd…no, sorry Captain I didn't quite…catch her given name, sorry," Dunn lies. Oh no, she is a terrible liar. Nobody buys it.

"Yes Captain. I will let you know." Dunn excuses herself from the conversation.

"What does he wants from Katie?" the leader of the pack asks. Damn it, does he think of her as "Katie" now?

Bloody hell, he needs coffee. He goes over the coffee pot and refills his cup, not paying attention to Sedna who is studying him and searching for the words to say.

"Nothing, Gibbs! Don't worry, he just asked for her name, that's all" Dunn quickly replies.

"I am not worried," Gibbs lies.

"Eeeee…OK…You are not worried…OK," Dunn rolls her eyes – Men!

"What's so amusing, Dunn?" He approaches slowly, invading her personal space deliberately, getting as close as possible to make her feel his physical dominance, taking psychological advantage from the closeness, the method of intimidation he uses with suspects or his own agents.

She can't step back, having the desk behind her. Gibbs worries that she guesses how he feels about his female agent and obviously his behavior is directed to distract her. But Dunn knows just how to push his buttons.

"So, you don't mind if I had told him her name?

"Why do you think I should be worried about this…insignificant detail…doc?"

Oh yes, his voice is dangerously smooth and low. Sedna knows what this kind of voice means…. And she decides to open the game:

"Because, I can bet that he'll ask her out. He is single, never married. A bit older than Todd, but you know? Many women find older men…sexy," Dunn decides to rocks the boat.

And she picks up the phone, about to call the SEAL Capt, when suddenly SLAM.

Gibbs holds her hand and slams her phone down – looking at her eyes which shine at him mischievously. Sedna Dunn looks at him, her golden eyes twinkling now, a big smile etched on her oval face - she knows.

"Don't waste your time, Gibbs," Dunn advises her new friend, the NCIS agent who is glaring at her, his face unreadable, his heartbeat going up.

"Life is short, Gibbs…I am a widow, twice. You are divorced, thrice, and we both know what I am talking about." She nods slightly, signaling him that his secret is safe with her and he lets go of her hand and her phone.

He is still immersed in the early morning incident when a loud scream coming from DiNozzo attracts his attention.

-------------------------------------------

The "Dolphin Siren" goes forward almost lazily, the bow tossing under the deep blue sky. The sun is warming up and there are not many shadow spots on deck. Sedna is steering silently while giving occasional looks at the GPS system in her wrist watch. Charles (The CO Smithers) has been so uncommonly kind as to give her the coordinates

He thanked her for her cooperation using her boat to bring the NCIS team to the crime scene, and added some- never asked- advice and warnings. And murmured at the end: "Follow Capt. Stolzer's orders and watch yourself, Sedna".

She had given him a half smile, arching a brow: "I can't see why I should take care of that, since you have banned me to dive with them."

He sighed impatiently: "As I always say….I have,"

"My orders!" their two voices sounded at unison. "Easy … Charles, I'm not going to do anything that costs you your position".

She was distracted from recalling the earlier meeting when Stolzer approaches her. He has finished messing around with the boat ten minutes ago and doesn't know what to do to keep himself away from the pretty Special Agent Todd, who looks at the blue horizon, elbowed on the board.

"Hey Caap!" If she heard a little irony in the "Caap", she just ignores it and looks up at him from under her cap, her eyes hidden behind the dark sunglasses.

"Couldn't we speed up? You are going too much slow. "

"I'm sorry, Caap", and she gives her voice the same modulation she had perceived in his, seconds before. "I had trouble with the engine, waiting for a part to come. We are going at the most power I can get. She pauses a moment and looks up and around, "but we have a very good wind. Unfortunately we do not have enough men to sail the boat, if you and your man would help me sail, we could make a very good speed, what do you say?"

Stolzer keeps his mouth shut. The bare ideathat he would be sailing under her orders sounds ridiculous to him. And she knew exactly what he would think about the suggestion.

"Witch"- he thinks- "A real witch in widest sense… " It was told around the base she was the only person who can get the CO. Smithers to shut up".

"OK", he gives up.

"Please, do the best you can." And he returns to his place or, to put it better, he stops halfway to exchange some words with Kate, now that her "bodyguard" is occupied, getting the diving suit on.

Conceding a little, Sedna speeds the boat up a bit. Ok, if the engine stops, they could return by sailing and Stolzer can't say that she had not warned about it.

The sun is really warming. Sedna takes her cap off and unzips the front of her diving suit a few inches, that's better. The wind refreshes her neck and collarbone. She doesn't know why she is wearing it if she is not allowed to dive.

DiNozzo and MGee are talking together,as they are preparing evidence bags, rather, DiNozzo is talking and McGee just answers yes or no, checking the equipment.

With no permission Tony steals the camera from McGee and starts to set it up. He brings the camera to his eye, because the light is too strong to see properly the screen.

Using the zoom he takes a look around the vessel and Oh!! What a view he got there!!!

He has an impressive zoom of Sedna: her front zipper had slid down almost to her waist, the shirt she was wearing underneath was wonderfully small and the neoprene was pulled to the sides a little: enough to expose the inner half of her roundness to his eager eyes.

Oh Yes!!! He has to capture this divine sight for posterity!! With an evil smile hidden towards the dark body of the camera, he shoots two very good sequences under the incredulous look of McGee. Still laughing with satisfaction he puts the camera down in the angle that allows McGee to see his artistic work.

"Look at this, probie!" says Tony wildly. "What d'ya think, boy??? We could sell it to Playboy"

McGee can't believe his eyes. "Tony, please. Delete it before the Gibbs is here or he will blame me as much as you….."

"You are a jerk, probie. There is not a single man on earth that could dislike this picture!!! Including Gii….."

McGee is not a good sailor, that's why he is always holding onto something when on board, but DiNozzo did not have this luck. Both of his hands are now on the camera. He is precariously standing over a rope roll to get a better view of Sedna, a few inches from the edge of the boat.

All of a sudden the Dolphin Siren gives a sharp twist, causing him to lose his balance, under the astonished look of McGee, who couldn't have done anything to help him. DiNozzo screams and pitches and shakes his arms trying to recover his balance, but is too late.

Suddenly, someone dressed in a neoprene suit is over there. Gibbs reached them jumping from wherever he had been hidden. He is just in time to catch the camera strap, holding it safety while DiNozzo, with a bit of a desperate short scream, falls overboard...

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-Tbc-Dolphinsiren-novasupernova-BETA (MV)

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR BETA, for her speedy work and patient!


	8. Chapter 8

Dolphin Hero. Chapter 8

The instant Tony hits the water, the m.o.b system device attached to his life vest triggered the _men overboard alarm_. Sedna reacts by swaying the boat and maneuvering to allow Stolzer and his man to rescue DiNozzo out of the water by rolling down a rope ladder and helping him to climb over the board.

Kate had been eyeing the incident interestedly. As soon as DiNozzo had stepped over the deck, all of them saw a dolphin jumping out of the water a couple of times and splashing the caudal fin soundly. It was _Sheryl. _Sedna had released her so that she could follow the boat.

"Holy…Mother!!!" DiNozzo exclaims. "I had just hit the water and felt a hard thing pushing me up from beneath…I really got freaking scared!" doc

Sedna had smiled with intent: "Forgive Sheryl, DiNozzo, she was just trying to help you"

"Sure, doc," and DiNozzo leaned over the board and shouted: "You are welcome, Sheryl!!"

Stolzer and his men had went back to their task and Kate kept herself intentionally apart, having eyed her boss coming over the corner where Tony was untying his life vest and peeling his soaked clothes off.

Gibbs faced his senior agent blinking his eyes due to the shinning water, both hands planted over hips,the strap of the camera still hanging in safety from his shoulder.

"What was all this, DiNozzo? We have a job to do here. Stop behaving like a teenager and do it like the well trained agent you are!!!" Gibbs had barked almost touching his nose with his.

"I'm fine, boss. Thanks for asking boss" DiNozzo answered, smiling in a friendly way and trembling under the fresh breeze. It was a funny picture: Gibbs in his diving suit and DiNozzo in his dripping blue boxers facing each other.

Seeing his agent's teeth chattering, Gibbs rage if it was not faked, evaporated suddenly. He decided DiNozzo had already enough punishment. His mood smoothed a little.

"Go and get some clothes on!" And Gibbs cuts the "sure boss" by planting the encased camera against his chest: "You erase these damn pictures now!!! Or you are going to walk across the plank "again",DiNozzo!!!"

He left and let his agent there, dumbfounded, open mouthed: "Does boss think that the sexy doc did it on purpose because…because she knew that he was taking "inappropriate" pictures of her???"

Tony realizes as he shivers, trying to quickly delete the pictures. He glares at Kate as he sees her happy face, looking at him with satisfaction, while giving him that "you deserve it" look.

Apart from a choked laugh, she is rather happy that DiNozzo got what he deserves. She saw him taking 'inappropriate' pictures of Sedna, her new found friend. She had tried to dissuade Tony by glaring and hissing at him but the man ignored her point blank, like she didn't exist.

As she witnesses Tony's unfortunate events, Kate got distracted with a lean muscular body in a tight navy diving suit that was helping Tony. It was Capt Stoltzer's body, blocking her view of a wet Tony. And it was a good view, a damn good view.

A smile etched on her face, she could feel herself blushing. The captain is not _very_ young. He is definitely in his early 40's, attractive in his own way. Well, Kate is always rather fond of older men. Without realizing she is comparing him to Gibbs

The Captain has a sweet kind smile while Gibbs, oh dear, he hardly smiles at his peers, worse at her. All she ever gets is a stiff nod of approval and stern criticism when she follows her heart.

Kate is looking at the 'hot' scene, her mind is running. She is contemplating. It is obvious that Gibbs does not share the feelings she has for him. She is a fool, wasting her time. Perhaps it is time to take her chances, 'Wheel of Fortune'-style,with the Captain since the man expressed his interest in her. Despite Gibbs's and Tony's opinion she finds the blonde Capt. handsome and sweet in his own way.

------------------------------------------

A few hours before they boarded the _Dolphin__siren_, she was preparing their survey with Sedna when the Captain entered the office and without beating about the bush, he asked her out on a date. She blushed like an inexpert teenager girl, unable to answer, unsure of herself, torn between her feelings for Gibbs and the chance to get to know someone.

And Sedna came to the rescue, God knows why. She nudged her side with her elbow, about to say 'no' to the captain for her. Then she just blurted "_Yes that would be nice_" because she was done being a foolish girl.

She told herself, Gibbs has no feelings for you. Stop wasting your time and move on Kate!

Stolzer walks out of the office with a wide smile on his face, his green eyes shining gladly.And Kate concentrates on her task again avoiding Sedna's eyes. Despite feeling sad about the realization that nothing_ was __ever_ going to happen between her and Gibbs, she focused on the positive things, which include Stoltzer, she owes it to herself to give it a try.

The doctor is glaring at her as if she had lost her mental faculties but Sedna decides not to speak. She just shakes her head and sighs, she thinks "It would be better to let things go on, for sure the grumpy pretty blue eyes boss should react seeing his petite protégé in Stolzer's arms, but…the thing is…how in hell is he going to know about this conversation, unless she tell him?

No no no, she is not a…besides, both of them are grown ups. Perfectly capable of handling the situation themselves. Actually, no,they haven't or never had reached the point"

-------------------------------------------

It was almost noon when they finally reached the lat/long coordinates. The_Dolphin__siren's _engines stopped and they anchored two hundred meters away from their aim. Stolzer and his man are holding the boat, suspended from its chains, ready to be boarded.

Still on deck, Gibbs had his tanks already attached to his back and is adjusting his mask on his face, when Sedna comes over and taps his shoulder from behind.

She doesn't want to be heard by the others and gives a signal to go further apart. He takes the mask off and follows her to the nose of the vessel. "What is so important doc?" He sighs impatiently.

She has an upsetting look over her face. Her eyes are sad and all her body language denotes excitement. "I…I think we are facing something in here, Gibbs!!! This is the exactly the point where John, my husband was diving when he… I mean. I just noticed…the latitude longitude coordinates of where the explosion that killed your marine and my Kenny took place, and the location of the shipwreck he was working on, are the same !!!

He keeps looking at her while his brain works furiously. The doctor keeps looking directly into his eyes trying to read his thinking, but she keeps silent and waits for him to speak.

"Thanks for telling me doc…let's go down there and see what we'll find your friend Stolzer is getting more impatient by the second"

"OK Gibbs if you need help just give a whistle and I will join you." Sedna decides.

He smirks. "Doc what would your "Charles" think about your offer? "

"The bastard is not _mine_ Gibbs, not anymore and to hell with him. If he has been hiding something from me I swear he is going to pay!!!"

"Yeah, I guess he would." He thinks that some women look kind of cute when furious, and he can't help and recalls the same challenging look in the eyes of his pretty brunette agent. For seconds his mind stray over Katie and the bathroom incident, her enraged eyes…Stop!

"We'll talk later, doc." He is going back walking to where Stolzer is waiting, when Sedna calls him again: "Hey, Gibbs!"

He turns around: "What?"

This time, it is her turn to smirk: "Watch your six".

--------------------------------------------------

In a couple of minutes, Stolzer reaches the given coordinates and stops the motor boat. His man had the anchor ready and eyeing him dropping it. Gibbs estimates that the bottom is no more than 45 –50 feet under.

They are in the shallower area of the bay, and in the middle of the higher density of shipwrecks, the vessel that John (Sedna's late husband) had been investigating was very old, but there are some more of them in the surrounding area, as he had seen consulting the shipwreck map of the bay.

Gibbs follows Stolzer and the other SEAL goes after them. The visibility is not as bad as he was thought it would be, and the old hull is perfectly visible, covered by algae and barnacles, turning suddenly into a sea grave for who had lived on it, and being a home for the wide diversity of marine organisms growing now over the metal or rotten wood, giving testimony about the brief dominance that humans have over the sea, before and ever.

After some minutes diving, Stolzer and his man made sure that Gibbs is perfectly able to move alone underwater and left him to go everywhere he wants, but keeping an eye on him. Stolzer is equipped with an underwater camera (Damn thing that he hasn't got, Gibbs realizes.)

The SEAL's captain is taking pictures all around and Gibbs keeps an eye on him as well, his gut saying that the stiff captain must know something he doesn't and surely he has his damn orders.

Schools of fish flourish in and out of the remains of the vessel and dart away as he approaches. Going around what seems had been the nose of the vessel Gibbs finds himself facing a bare surface that lacks all marine life that covers the opposite side like a thick carpet.

On one side of this nude area there is a big hole with sharp cut edges, every one of them is curved up in a very constant angle. The sea floor is irregular and bare of vegetation being covered instead by organic detritus and a mix of substrate rock and metallic debris. "Oh yeah. This was the epicenter of the last explosion" he recognizes the damage.

Most material had decanted already but it hadn't been fixed yet and Gibbs moves a hand over the thin layer and gets a small cloud of dust that floats and moves with the current.

He needs light now and switches his L.E.D light on. The sudden brightness makes his surroundings darker and the black mouth of the hole is now full of life - small crustaceans and all the micro life that usually made their homes in the remains of shipwrecks.

In different circumstances he would enjoy the diving. Since his training as a marine he always had loved the feeling of weightlessness and liberty that accompanies the SCUBA underwater incursions and used to spend his holidays at diving beaches.

As he disappears inside the hull case, Stolzer is already done with his photos and looks around for Gibbs. Not having him in view anymore surprises him, and he was there just two seconds before.

"These damn NCIS agents are really good at slipping away" he thinks, feeling the annoyance invading his mind. Stolzer forces himself to be calm and put aside any remnants of his own emotions. In seconds he regains perfect control over himself the control that his meticulous training had integrated to his personality and is the base of a SEAL's being.

He re-evaluates his surroundings again and his mind registers every detail. The visibility is not too fine but his eyes are adjusted to the half-light. Suddenly, his highly developed sense of alarm activates.

Not having received any definite signal of danger he stays still for a moment trying to perceive consciously what was that, coming from the environment that has alerted him. It's not the hasty Gibb's vanishing – no, something is going to happen.

His experience along with almost two decades in combat and underwater surveillance is telling him to be cautious and proactive now. His man is not close enough to communicate with by signals, and he curses himself for not having the complete equipment for what he had thought was just a whim of the silver haired NCIS agent.

Instinctively he uses the primitive but useful way to notify his position and inform the other divers that something deserves their attention, his UW caller. The sound spread is echoed by two distinct answers, the first one from his left is his man.

The second, weaker and more bass came from Gibbs. "The damn idiot got inside the hull," and Stolzer gives the double signal meaning they must join with him at surface.

All of a sudden an unexpected and swift movement attracts his sight. A fast long shadow passes by his side and disappears, at the time he feels the movement of the displaced mass of water over his own body. It was Sheryl. He is completely sure, for some unknown reason the dolphin's behavior triggered his alarm sense to an even higher level

"What was the dolphin doing here?" Stolzer knows deep inside that something is about to go wrong. He has to get the damn stubborn NCIS bloodhound out of there and get himself as far as possible from this place.

He finds the entrance to the hull core and switches on his light. Damn it. He is going to take him out of there in seconds, even if he has to drag him to the surface.

They could discuss the matter later, with or without the use of their fists while chatting. Oh yeah, he had been waiting for the opportunity to erase this annoying smirk from Gibb's face from the very moment they met and he has the best excuse to do it.

To hell with rank… and if he is punished because of the blasted NCIS agent, he will be a happily punished SEAL

--------------------------------------

_On__board the "Dolphin__siren"__minutes before:_

The ship is rolling slightly over the blue ocean, the wind had calmed and the sun is warming up. It was almost twenty minutes since Gibbs in the company of the two SEAL men went into the blue sapphire water and the tension is mounting on board.

Kate notices that Sedna didn't move from the place where she had talked with Gibbs before. Her face is half covered by her cap and sunglasses but the profiler can read the apprehension in her normally well composed expression and all her body language denotes a calm even observant expectation.

DiNozzo had changed his clothes. Fortunately Tom (Sedna's Vet), had some spare clothes that fit him. Kate sees DiNozzo's blue boxers hung out to dry flagging over the winch of the anchor and shakes her head in disapproval and disbelief. But nobody seems to be interested in DiNozzo's underwear.

Tom is now at Sedna's side speaking to her quietly and she nods at what he says- always keeping her attentive gaze at where the empty rubber boat is anchored, gently sloping in the slow waves. She had taken off her sunglasses and her eyes looked worried, matching her tense jaw.

Inside the main cabin on the bridge, isolated from the shining sea and sky by the darkened windows, McGee is working on his computer because Abby is too busy with all the tests she had to run for Ducky. So they had divided the task and he was working with the hard disks and Abby had taken the cellular phones.

She had been at the lab overnight and had a very serious face the last talk they had shared. "I don't have enough Caff- Pow supply! Gibbs is out of town, Timmy!"she said pouting in the best childish mood.

McGee loves her pretend annoyed face, "Call for delivery, Abbs" he answered with a little smile knowing that she misses not the Caff- Pow itself as much as she misses the affection of the hand that usually gives it.

She shrugged her shoulders"Miss you all, guys.It's very quiet here with all of you out"

"Well Abbs, you could have a chat with Ducky…." McGee said while looking at her maliciously. "…or Palmer" The not well hidden jealous undertone was easily caught and Abby's face had recovered some of her usual brightness.

"Are you jealous, Tim???? I loooove when you are!!!! Oh!!!!" She turns her head suddenly and her face was replaced by her left pigtail swaying at the screen

"Timmy, Mr. GC (gas chromatographer) is talking to me!!! Call you soon" and she disappeared from his screen fast enough to deserve the "_Gibbsian way_ award" of the year.

Sighing in acquiescence, McGee went back to his task. He found files from two NMMP members that are also members of an NGO for animal welfare known for being extremely radical. He was really not sure if they would be relevant or not, but after analyzing their words carefully, they could contain some type of threat, he has to inform Gibbs.

All of a sudden Abby appears anew on screen and without giving him time to greet her, shouts excitedly:

"McGee!!!!"

"O o- thinks Tim- It is a bad thing when she calls me McGee and before he could answer Abby says:

"McGee! Get Gibbs over here…_Now!_"

"That is impossible Abby. He is diving with …."

"Nooooooo…McGee!!! You _must_ call him! Out of the water…you…" and the technician shakes her head making her pigtails tremble. Her hands are scratching the air at both sides of her face out of frustration.

"McGee…you get them out of that damn place…please McGee… don't ask, just _do it. This is serious! _"

"Abby….. I…. I can't do it. We can't communicate with them, they are underwater now. It was supposed to be a short dive and then they have no communication with us… I thought it would be better to keep in contact but…"

"McGee!!!!!!" Abby is really shouting now.

"Stop blabbing and do something!!!! I…I found the cell from where the explosion was detonated!!! Well… I did it ten minutes ago!!! I was going to call you. It was difficult to be sure because there are a three points signal. I had all the cells active to check the entering calls and…and…"

"What Abbs……_what?_" McGee starts perspiring, looking at the terror painted over the technician's face starts to overtake him: "For God's sake, Abbs!!! Speak!!!!"

"The damn bloody thing is activated McGee!!!! It happened three minutes ago!!! I needed two minutes to track the signal!!! Is the same protocol that activated the first explosion!!!! I located the other points: the first is in the naval base. The second just one mile from you…. on land!!! Please McGee, sound the boat siren or something!!! Do something!

All of a sudden McGee understands and feels something cold slipping down his spine, with no word he stands up abruptly and runs for Dunn while praying for Abby to be wrong for once, while his brain shouts at him that she is always right.

----------------------------------------------

Meanwhile things started to move on board, Tony had gone over the pilot location and got the binoculars that hung there focusing them at one specific point inland where he had seen something shining.

He is looking at the foot of a dune and there is a vehicle there, half hidden behind the dune. There are some people inside the cabin and he could have sworn that one of them is looking at the _"Dolphin__siren_" with binoculars and that is the thing he saw shining a minute before. "What in hell are they looking for???"

It happened in seconds but it seemed to be an eternity. An eternity that remained imprinted in their minds for the rest of their lives.

Sedna had just seen the SEAL diver coming back into the rubber boat and he started to reel the anchorage in. Dunn sighed, relieved, it means that they are going to be back soon.

She was walking back over to the pilot station when she sees Sheryl jumping out of water at her side, almost grazing her body against the boat's wood. Three fast and consecutive jumps, and with each jump a sharp and urgent whistle breaks the air and it makes her heart skipped a beat.

_This _is nastiest and most hated signal that a trained NMMP dolphin could do. It means…. damn!!! It means: "explosive device" and the terrorizing thing was that after the jumps Sheryl was fleeing away at full speed.

She curses aloud and rushes over to the siren button at the wheel side. At the same time her sweated palm presses it. She sees the boyish agent running over to her and shouting

She never heard McGee shouting and the warning siren's sound was fully covered by the strong rumble of thunder that made the entire world turn upside down

The _"Dolphin__siren_" trembled and rocked hard to starboard tensing the anchorage beyond its resilience… all them looked shocked at the column of water blooming up to the surface at the place where the rubber boat had been before.

As the _Dolphin__siren_ rocks and oscillates over the concentric but decreasing waves, the water bloom spreads over them in a thick and quick rain.

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-Tbc- Dolphinsiren-novasupernova-BETA(MV)


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: **

_**Into the deep**_

_**Authors/n Okay, guys !! **_

_**Finally, we updated. **_

_**Forgive us… we know that it's been a while since our last post, but we never stop working on the story….**_

_**It happens that Nova is trapped in her new job and she has not anymore a comp available all the time as before..**_

_**And besides, we had to get a new Beta !! **_

_**Fortunately, we got a VERY good one. Thanks to Michelle Euster, who betaed for us this chapter at the light speed !!**_

_**This Ch. is mainly action… hope you enjoy!**_

_**Take it easy… Ch 10 is in progress**_

_**And remember!! your reviews and feed backs encouraged us to post quickly!!**_

Kate feels like she is not able to move anymore, caught in her worst nightmare. The entire universe had stopped running and her heart hurts as it is fighting hard to keep beating: "One beat, two…three…four…" Painfully, it regains its normal rhythm and she can take in a shaking breath. Cold and thick drops of salt water are hitting her skin but her mind seems not to register any impression.

She can't scream with her voice, her whole being is screaming from inside as her eyes are looking to the place where the rubber boat had been anchored before. The concentric waves that the blast had left make impossible to see the horizon line or calculate right distances. She is so lost in herself and her fear that doesn't perceive the first wave reaching the side of the _Dolphinsiren_.

It impacts hard against the wood hull few seconds later and causes her to fall on her knees and palms. She does not even try to get on her feet again. Instead, she positions herself in a fetal position, fingers crossed behind her neck and eyes closed. Maybe all of this is not real - may be it is just a nightmare from which she is going to wake up. The second wave hit the boat and she trembles.

"Kate!! You OK?" She hears DiNozzo's voice and feels his strong arms pulling her up, but her legs and weak and still uncooperative, she leans against him and looks up at his face, but he is not looking at her, his eyes are searching the horizon while a murmured word escape from his lips echoing into the hole that Kate feels in the place that her heart seems not be occupying anymore: "Boss"

Seconds go by in what seems like an eternity, and the reality hits her ruthlessly. It's not a nightmare. _This is real. _DiNozzo runs towards the stern. Sedna and Tom are already there, helping each other in a rush with the diving equipment. Sedna was adjusting her belt with trembling hands when them get close. Kate locks eyes with her. Sedna's eyes hold a strange icy desperation.

"Kate, DiNozzo. We are going underwater! It is the only way to know what happened!! They could be still alive!!"

Clearly it appears that the doctor is trying to believe her own statement and give them hopes. Kate nods and makes an effort to form words, at the second attempt she got it: "Sedna… what could we do to help?"

"Kate, you and McGee reach the Base Command through the radio. Don't use phones or wireless, I'm sure that they already noticed the blast. Just report the situation, by now…the two SEAL's and your boss are… (She hesitates before voicing aloud these words) _missing__ in action_. They will know what to do, they have probably displayed a rescue team already…by minutes are matter of life or dead now. We can't wait for them to arrive!!"

Tom cuts her, his caressing voice smoothing the sharp statement: "Sedna we better hurry…"

DiNozzo's eyes are severe and his face exhibits the same resolve that Sedna had recognized into Gibb's eyes: he grabs her arm. "Doc… I had seen the place from where the signal came from…it's from land. It was detected by our Tech at HQ. Could be said that we already caught them, doc"

"You know _what _DiNozzo? I don't care about the bloody bastards!!"

She is interrupted by Tom, who is stepping over the board, ready to jump. She gives him an affirmative signal and they hear the splash sound of him hitting the water. Sedna is already stepping over the rim and wondering how in hell they are going to find the exact point where they could be.

Parts of the destroyed rubber boat are visible now, blast debris floating spread on surface, but if there are any survivors they could be anywhere in a wide ratio and the underwater visibility should be certainly bad.

A sharp whistle comes from below. Sheryl is at Tom's side, waiting for her to join them in the water, it seems that she is not been affected by the blast and suddenly Sedna knows what to do.

She answers the dolphin whistle with another one and makes the signal meaning "search" follows by"Gibbs". Without another word, Sedna adjusts her mask and jumps over the board at the time the dolphin dives at her best speed.

They had swum less than half the way when Sheryl reaches them at the surface whistling excitedly. Sedna and Tom know what to do, and Sheryl accepts them taking hold on her fins and brings them in tow to the exact point when she had located whatever it was. The dolphin swims underwater at the speed that permits humans to keep hold on her. She knows.

Suddenly they almost bump to a body floating on surface, the scraps of the navy diving suit still covering him, it was not necessary to search for the vital signals to know that the man is dead. He is the SEAL man and Sedna thinks that Stolzer is going to be in wrath, instantly she thinks that that is a very stupid consideration, she doesn't even know if Stolzer is still alive or not .

Following the dolphin Sedna and Tom dive, the visibility is not as bad as they had thought. Obviously the substrate was mainly solid rock and was not removed by the blast as much as it would have been sandy. However, rests of algae, cracked shells and detritus are still floating around them and dulling - clouding the surroundings, even tough the hull of the ruined vessel is perfectly visible underneath. They approached the scene, their heartbeats increasing.

Slowly, Stolzer regains his consciousness, he feels numb but not so bad, apart that his ears are buzzing and aching painfully. He checks himself up…There are not broken bones or flesh wounds, and miraculously he still has his diving equipment intact and held in place. It takes him two or three seconds to be aware of his surroundings - probably he had passed out for some seconds, he knows that it had been a blast that reached them.

He is amazed of being still alive, unhurt and Stolzer thinks that the hull had protected him and the blast wave should had gone mainly in the opposite direction and up to the surface , it means that the explosive charge was placed onto the outer surface of the hull .In fact, the hull was now parted in two pieces.

The old rivets had gave in thankfully and had adsorbed the most of the blast energy, luckily he had been in between the two intact pieces but. Shit!! What about the damn NCIS agent who was inside the damn wreckage?? He hadn't time to wonder about his man and the boat yet when he sees two silhouettes approaching him, to be said better "three", two humans _and a dolphin_.

The divers reach for him and he makes them signal that he is OK, but the dolphin instead face him passed by his side and despite his buzzing ears he feels the wave of her sonar system impacting his belly. It was not a bad feeling…but rather comforting, it makes him feel still alive.

But he is notSheryl's target. The dolphin is still searching for something else. The dolphin moves fast and graceful passing along him with Dr Dunn in tow and they round the corner of the damaged hull and get out of his sight. Tom stays at his side and helps him to do a quick check up to his equipment.

Having finished, Stolzer gave a glance to the surface and Tom can't help to shake his head and moves apart his hands palms down, saying that there is nothing to do up there. The SEAL's captain catches instantly the inference and he fights for keeping his breathing normal and tights his fists. His man had been his friend but he knows he must reserve his rage for afterward. Now, he is still on mission.

Sedna follows her Sheryl, she feels a speck of hope now that she knows that Stolzer is alive and if Sheryl is so excited it means that Gibbs is Ok? At least she hopes he is…she takes a look to her diving watch. The doctor knows that it's now six or seven minutes since the blast occurred. Oh damn it! It's too long if he is injured or his Scuba's not working.

She follows Sheryl with no hesitation, the think that it would be more than one bomb not even crossed her mind, she trust on the dolphin skills absolutely as well Tom does. Sedna fights to keep her breathing under control and being calm. She doesn't know what are going to face…and suddenly flashes of Kate's terrified face reach her mind. They didn't exchange any word, but Sedna knows she is shocked.

The doctor witness her pale face before diving with Tom and Sheryl, she had wanted to assure her that all is OK….that Gibbs and Stolzer are both still alive.

The old hull is a dark threatening shadow in front of them. Sheryl had gotten inside it seconds before the potent lights make her gray skin shine and Sheryl made sure of being seen offering them the view of the more pale skin of her belly.

Damn she knows, Sedna can't help and thinks that the dolphin is completely conscious and sensitive about how human senses are helpless and useless underwater. Sheryl stops and releases a trace of bubbles facing them and moving her head up and down.

Following the direction they see another line of bubbles, this one thin and sparse… coming from underneath a large and thick piece of metal lying on the bottom floor - not properly lying on. There is a small space between the sea floor and the metal piece of blast, and yes the flood of bubbles was definitely coming from beneath…

Tom and Sedna approach to one side, they noticed the bubbles are not constant; the flood is time to time broken into an irregular pattern. This bubbles, although being weak …are not coming from a damaged isolated tank!!

There is somebody there - someone is certainly breathing from this tank!

It's Gibbs' tank.

Sheryl is emitting audible sounds now and answering them. A hand appears from under one side of the metal leaf and makes signals" first: "Okay", followed immediately for another one he motions his hand repeatedly palm down, fingers open and stiff. Sedna gives his hand a brief touch and then pats the back of it. The hand relaxes, now he knows there are somebody there, somebody that can help him.

"Oh yeah" thinks Sedna, "It means he is hardly flattened against the sand bed and can't move himself to get out. Damn, how are they going to get him out of there? Has Gibbs had enough air supply to wait for the Navy rescuers that are surely coming??

She gets her arm into the tight space and touches the side of his torso, there is not enough space to maneuver with other air pipe, he has his face twirl to the opposite side and his ear and neck is all that she can touch from here.

Sedna thinks that may be she felt alleviated much too soon. The piece of metal seems to be thick and heavy, and must be hard to move, even underwater. But they have to try.

They take positions at the side and apply all their strength. The thing hardly moves, it shifted less than one inch before laying back. At the second attempt Sheryl understands what are they doing and she seems to perceive the humans have no enough strength to deal with. The intelligent mammal makes her own room between them and put her nose in between their hands. Tom and Sedna looked at each other and let her enough space to move.

This time, while the metal leaf is moving up, the dolphin pushes her head further and underneath, using her caudal fin motion to apply her six hundred pounds weight against the odd thing and now it really moves !! .

Unfortunately, there isn't adequate space for Gibbs to release himself from beneath the waste of the blast and even worst was the fact that his tank appears to be the main trouble.

Sedna doesn't think twice and letting Sheryl and Tom supporting the metal leaf, she gains herself inside the little space at the side of the dolphin head, being small framed sometimes maybe an advantage…she knows that.

And yes, the ocean bottom is sand as she had guessed, as quickly as she can. Sedna uses her bare hands to dig around the tank, aiming to release it from beneath. Unfortunately the only way to do it is letting him remain with no air… At least until they get him out. By second she is suddenly assaulted by doubts: What if she gets the air out of him and then they can't extract him fast enough?? "Maybe would be better to wait for the help to come??" She wonders.

The question answered itself.

Somewhat the movement they did displaced the air pipes or the mouthpiece moved out of place and is out of his reach or, that Gibbs's equipment was damaged because the flood of air suddenly stops.

All of them know that the next opportunity will be the last. Sedna prays for Gibbs being a good apnea diver while she is frantically pushing the sand apart. Having her left hand and arm solidly tugged around the tank she uses her right one to signal to Tom to be ready, that it was time to do the last attempt.

While Sedna was frantically digging, Sheryl had used her nose and mirrored her actions. She had got to make room enough to go further and shove her head almost completely under the piece of metal. Seconds seem to be hours and all them know that every second counts.

Gibbs feels faint, he had been dizzy and progressively numb from the very moment that had became conscious and aware of his desperate situation. He is barely able to move into the tight space, he had checked himself up, tensing his muscles methodically and it seems nothing had got broken. Although his head is placed in a very uncomfortable position and he feels the hardness of the metal inner surface in contact with his right temple if trying to move his neck.

One more inch and his neck could have been fractured and he would be certainly dead. He fights against the rising nausea and the urgency of taking his breath in, now that he can't reach the mouthpiece since somebody had been pulling from his air tank in order to release him. He feels a hard object doing pressure against the right side of his ribcage and trying to get under his body. It is clear that is not a hand… What a hell?

The effort he is doing to guess what it would be, helps him to keep his mind focused in something more than the increasing lack of oxygen and Gibbs got his answer when a recently learnt sensation spreads along his body, radiating from the point of contact:

"Dolphin's bio-sonar " he realizes.

"It is Sheryl. The dolphin is here. That means Sedna, which means help is here".

The discovery gives him hope. He can hold his breath longer…not to panic; everything is going to be OK.

All is happen very fast, he feels the pressure against his side increasing and simultaneously the leaf of metal is moving further up and the trouble that the tank is, is pulled out from under his body. During a couple of scaring seconds he feels unable to move, but a new adrenaline rush runs along his blood and being helped by a pair of hands he slides himself out of the leaf of blast that had almost crushed him.

Tom and Sheryl (with the most recent addition of Stolzer) had been supporting the weight up, and now that he is free a suddenly weakness gains him completely. Sedna offers him her mouthpiece and it requires all his strength not to breath wide and greedily. He knows that doing so could make him cough or even paralyze his diaphragmatic muscle. He breathes short and slow and passed one minute he starts to feel better.

The others had positioned the metal piece again on the marine bed and Sheryl keeps herself close them eyeing interestedly. She knows Gibbs is alive but despite his attempts he can't swim and reach the surface by himself, besides, Stolzer and Sedna think that it was better to follow the decompress rules . So, Gibbs is brought slowly up, doing the necessary stops using Sedna's equipment while Tom and her are sharing another one.

They had just surfaced when the noise of powerful rotors reach their ears mercilessly. By once this a very welcome noise, thinks Dunn.

Minutes later, there are three rescue boats there in addition to the helicopter. The bomb squad and paramedics with them. Gibbs was raised on board the helicopter despite his weak complains and driven to the base hospital.

Paramedics try to convince the hard ass agent, although is clear that they are going to the hospital with or without his acquiescence, the oldest of them, a blonde woman tells Gibbs that his breathing is still short and labored and he has a slight cyanosis, plus the oximeter that was attached to his thumb nail minutes before, indicates that the saturation of his hemoglobin is lower than normal .

She takes a second look to the digital band and sees that the previous value is rising up, and is almost normal after some minutes with the oxygen mask, but she is not giving up with her orders. Gibb's eyes had followed hers, and he is not a doctor but he knows enough to see that a ninety percent is better than sixty… He rolls his eyes, damn!! He _hates _hospitals.

The SEAL diver is working in recovering the body of their killed comrade, Stolzer with them; Sedna and Tom were back on board the "Dolphinsiren" .

Kate is there, watching them to climb onboard. Her face is pale and Sedna sees that she had been biting her lower lip hard enough to let the mark her lips. She had watched Gibbs being raised to the helicopter and her heart was turned up down. The relief that she felt seeing him moving was brief.

"What if he is severely injured? "she imagines the worse.

"What if he dies …and I … I never told him that…that I…"

Her "daymares" is interrupted by Sedna, who discharges herself from her diving equipment and unzips her suit approaches to Kate and slides a hand over her arm. Tom and the others are not at earshot now, so Sedna talks attempting to comfort her friend.

" Heeey Kate !! He is OK!! She searches for her eyes and sees tears on them,

"Don't cry Kate. You have no reasons to… he is really a strong guy… hell!! There are few guys that could stand being trapped underwater like him just did it!!

Kate looks at her friend. Hope is in her tears stained eyes from now, but she keeps arguing asking for Sedna's reassurance. "But… but… what if there's some other complication? He is not young anymore and…"

The doctor bursts out laughing on Kate's last comment, "Agent Todd!! I'd like him to hear you say that!! What do you think he would do to you, huh?"

Kate's smile is a just perceptible one, but looking at the friendly eyes of her new friend her smile widens slowly.

"Well…you got a point there. The age thing always pushes his buttons and currently DiNozzo keeps doing this malicious statements just to annoy him…he says nothing but Gibbs always makes it clear to us with his actions that he is able to do all Dinozzo can, and more, even being fifteen years older!!

Sedna is grateful looking the humor sparkle dancing into Kate's eyes. She is giving her something to think of, which is going to help in the hours to come.

The doctor smirks at the best Gibbsian style, leaning into her personal space and locking her teasing eyes with hers, she says, her voice smooth and low: "Agent Todd, there is just _one_ place where a man shows how _young or healthy _he really is, no matter what his chronological age would be…after all, we are all just animals" and she speaks the last words before leaving to meet her crew, letting a blushed and distracted Kate, alone:

"In _bed_…that how it really counts…don't you think, Kate?"

_Okay... this is all ...by now. Don't miss us ..._

_Next chapter is coming soon !!_

_**Dolphinsiren-Novasupernova**_


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**A/n : Okay guys ... don´t think we had forgotten you !! You and our KIBBS are always on our minds ... It was just a series of fortunately and unfortunately events that delayed us...First, I travelled to USA ans spent one month there ( for work... ) and then, the comp of my cowriter, Nova... ( her beloved Baby DELL) went dead !!.**

**Hope you like this chapter, on it the action is going (rapidly, from here... ) to the KIBBS primary intention , this is: get them finally together... !!**

**The end of the story is closing up ... but it´s not going to be easy for them to live and not for us to write, too... **

**ENJOY... AND LET´S KNOW YOUR COMMENTS...**

"The place is decent…even for your high standards. Come on, Kate! .The case is over… let's have some relax…" Tony had said, trying to convince her exhibiting his best charming smile. Kate was staring at him with hesitant eyes. Seeing her crappy mood giving up he had added good-humoredly:

"C'mon kitty!! Take a rest before the long trip that is waiting for us… besides, after being trapped twenty four hours at the hospital, being deprived of caffeine, Gibbs is not going to be in his best mood tomorrow.

"That's true…." she murmurs casually.

Of course, she couldn't tell him that she doesn't care about Gibb's mood tomorrow for the moment he is alive and he has every part of his body attached in the right place.

She can't tell him about how her heart had almost stopped…(,) knowing that he was down there when the underwater explosion had shake the outside world as well her entire being. And what scares her the most was the simple fact that, in this moment, her heart realizes how much she needs him, how much she wants to stay by his side forever…

That it doesn't matter if the day in which he'd know about her feelings would arrive or not.

But DiNozzo was right. What was she going to do tonight? To stay at her cramped quarters, feeling extremely relieved on one hand and awfully desolate on the other??

For once, she had to admit that the place is really nice. Sure, she knows that DiNozzo had been there before, talking with the bartender the first day over the case…, and now, Kate knows _why _DiNozzo is wanting to return here: the bartender is a girl, one of his favorite types: blond, tall and all curves and very… _very_ young. This time at least, the fact she works as bartender makes sure she is over 21. Damn DiNozzo !! Damn him and his whim for teenagers… although she has to admit that he had being peering at Sedna with the same voracious look he used for his beloved "girls". May be he was growing up…and focusing in something more than a stunning body crowned by a stupid mind… well… talking about admitting things , she has to admit too that Sedna has a stunning body beneath her smart mind, and was not her mind which attracted DiNozzo… In this case, her brain was for him, like the olive on the pizza… just for decorative purposes.

While following her train of thought Kate slides her eyes all over the room, registering every detail with the discipline that habit makes as normal as breathing .

The place is nice … not much people there, taking in account that is almost the happy hour. Three officers with their women or dates… two Petty officers talking friendly at the corner …not big deal…

The music is good … walls and furniture are all dark wood and bronze …a certain air of nautical melancholy is floating around. Each side of the wooden counter is flanked by old propeller blades remnants from a shipwreck. She guesses. There are ropes and knots all over the walls…

Lamps are recycled old portholes in red and green dim lights. Kate recalls that Sedna had told her something about this old pub. She used to come for a drink sometimes…

"Boss would like it … Kate… looks like a boat in here…. " DiNozzo's voice is in her ear… he is a bit too much close for her comfort teasing her, purring purposely his words into her neck. She nods and takes a step further apart.

"Don't think he would be in mood to notice, Tony… you know he _hates_ hospitals…" DiNozzo approves:

"Who doesn't Kate? And particularly in his case… I'd hate hospitals if would have his past experiences….." DiNozzo stops talking suddenly. The bartender is watching them, and the blonde gives a light signal with her hand…smiling openly, and Tony returns her smile wide and warm. Kate shakes her head watching him flying to the blonde like mot to light.

"Oh… now I know why he insisted to come" … the reason wasn't to forget the stress of the day and have some fun… "Maybe yes, maybe this was his way to do it"….

And what is supposed she is going to do while DiNozzo is concerting his night stand … She feels alone. McGee is gone back to DC and they had to stay there just because there are no places at the helicopter for them. The Big Navy Boys and the FBI are coming and going to close this damn case ASAP. Sedna is somewhere, may be discussing with "Charles" and filling up hundreds of forms and reports….and Kate smiles thinking on the mood that the doctor would have facing all that , her character is pretty smooth in comparison with Gibbs one, but even tough….

And Gibbs, her very handsome and very grumpy boss is at hospital… overnight. It's all right with him, he is OK, but orders are orders and these had been the crazy orders. And Gibbs may be Gibbs but he is a good Marine. And he obeyed.

She gets a diet coke and sits, recalling what had happened three hours before, at the Hospital:

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They had been very busy for hours interrogating people, bagging evidence and typing preliminary reports, all these had been done while Gibbs was for his ordered medical check up.

Finally she had met Tony at the lateral hall of the Emergency Department.

The young tiny nurse at the front desk had rolled her eyes when DiNozzo shows his ID along with his most charming smile. "More of those NCIS guys? … hmmmffff !! ….though we have got just enough of you here…."

Di Nozzo opens her mouth while searching an accurate answer. Kate had not couldn't help and asked: "What 's the meaning of it ?? I thought there is just one NCIS agent here:

" Special Agent Gibbs" ….

" Oh…and _very _special one he is huh !!… if you had arrived a while before… your cuffs had been useful to convince "him" to do the MRI , except for the fact that are metallic objects .

"Well… I see your point…" Tony interrupted … "But nobody could convince Gibbs to do what he doesn't want except his ex wives ……"

The nurse was calmer now. She arches a brow: "_Wives, _as in plural ?...d' you mean he was married many times ….?''

Di Nozzo smiles openly now: "Ha! Yeah! Thrice , speaking properly". The nurse cross her arms looking at them …

"I don't know why I'm feeling inclined to believe you … well, the _troll_ is inside there" and she points her index to the next door in front of them.

"Thanks" had said Kate politely, "and by the way… how did you convince Gibbs to do the MRI ?"

"I don't know… I just called Commander Davidson, she is the Med Chief in charge here".

Yeah… sure, the only thing that Gibbs could observes ( and even so… not always) … is rank.

It seems to be a quiet day, no much movement… just one or two patients waiting there… An old man glance at them for over his glasses and newspaper, and a girl dressed in shorts with one leg into a inflatable splint reach out her, hand moving her Barney puppet, chanting a loud "Hiiiiiiiii".

Her mother (a young Petty Officer) frowns at her and remember : " Sarah ! Don't shout! We are in a Hospital…" The girl giggles and her attention goes back to her puppet, making it to do a silent dance. Kate smiles… she likes children. Tony smiles to the kid too, waving his hand at her and saying "hiiii". The girl hides her face in the mother shoulder, this time abashed of the attention she had got. Kate snorts to Tony.

"Too young for you…DiNozzo!!" he looks offended: "You misjudged me, Kate!! I really like kids!! And who knows… may be we should met again in a decade and a half… and …mmmm…she is going to be pretty!!

"Tony! You're a p…"

He is sure she was going to call him a pig, but at this moment the door is opened and a tall and stocky woman in her early sixties strides out and sets a folder on the desk. Her white gown is as impeccable as the uniform she wears under. The nurse introduces them and the Medical Director looks at them with a shadow of a smile playing on her round face and shook hands affably.

"You must be Todd and DiNozzo…"

"Did our boss… Gibbs, talk about us?" asks Tony and he can't help and lets her to perceive how much startled he is… their boss talking friendly with the lady doctor is already astonishing … talking about them with a complete strange does not match with the normal professional dynamics that Gibbs used to lead his team with. But nothing surprised Dr Davidson, who is smiling at them now. She takes a second and signs some forms that the nurse put under her eyes, meanwhile, she turns her head back and speaks in a sufficiently loud voice to be heard from the next room where Gibbs is:

"Your Agents are here, Gunny….."

Kate and Tony exchange quick glances…

Did she just say …"_Gunny?" _

The Director smiles again over the frame of herfine glasses.

"I've known him since we were together in Iraq…and I came as soon as Dr Mallard called me…and I was being requested from here at the same time….Ha !! your boss is not easy and never has been …. _f__ortunately _he is a hard nut to crack… as he ever has been "…

She talks slowly, kindly avoiding specifically medical terms and confirms that all is ok, no physical injury or physiological misbalances…, blood parameters are fine good , just one or two superficial scratches but her orders were to keep him hospitalized overnight . As the doctor follows telling them a brief report of the tests results , Kate gives a glance from over doctor's wide shoulder … the two ways door is open and the room is bathed in shine white light .Gibbs is there, dressing his undershirt up , Kate got a brief view of his flat stomach and well shaped muscular chest, which gray hair is perfectly visible now , as not it had been in the preceding occasion she had had the vision of his bare torso previously submerged in salt water. Before their eyes met for a moment and then he turns around giving her his back, and avoiding intently her eyes, but concurrently offering her the full vision of his fine back and strong arms, every muscle playing under the tanned skin as he dresses his undershirt. The muscular contours of his neck and short hair never had seen so sexy before… Kate holds her breath and keeps staring.

She is so focused enjoying her sight that doesn't notice that the doctor had asked her some missed question, confused , she returns her look to the concerned dark eyes focused in hers, and smiles somewhat embarrassed , if the doctor had caught her peering her boss, she was ignoring the fact politely and Kate feels her cheeks getting hot. Oh… she is blushing irremediably; damn Gibbs! For a moment Kate thinks he was deliberately showing up but instantly her mind discards that irrational idea… O-o …he is coming over them now, buttoning up his shirt and looking exasperated, his face darkened and frowned smoothes a little when the doctor leans her hand over his arm giving a friendly rub .

"I was saying that you better stay here overnight, Gunny… I mean, Agent Gibbs., this were my orders ; I'll give you some antihistaminic medication to avoid _t__innitus_… it is when you feel your ears buzzing, very common after suffering exposition to sub aquatic explosive waves , and it'll help you to sleep well in our " five stars hotel " Gibbs..

"Doc… the only way to sleep well in a hospital is being comatose… " .

She smiles: "Very dark sense of humor, Agent Gibbs!. .you are lucky!… the room that is normally occupied by the " Big Boys" is free…so, I'll give you the " Admirals suite "… it has an additional bedroom if you want to have company… one of your agents could…"

"I'll be better being alone, doc" he sighs. Kate starts an almost inaudible "But Gibbs…" and is reduced to silence by the look he gives her. The med chief intercedes again saying

"Ok…I'll give the properly orders. She smiles again , adding in a very friendly tone " Llet me tell you that you are in amazing good shape _G__unny_… I would want to have your heart, my friend!!"

He smirks.

"Doc, most people including my three ex wives, says that I haven't one".

She laughs openly this time. "As I told before, a _very dark_ sense of humor !!".

Kate stays still, her untouched drink of diet coke in hand, she is quietly immersed in her daydreaming totally distracted of what is happening around. That's why the elbow of DiNozzo against her ribs cage startled her and part of her drink got dropped over the skirt of her dress. She holds back a sharp exclamation for his stupid action when her eyes , following the direction of his, see what he is glaring at, smiling with his best guzzle face .

Sedna is entering the room, dressed up in the most plain and stunning dress she had ever seen. The thin and stretch fabric fits her like a second skin letting exposed back and shoulders and falls lightly to her knees in some irregular and distinct pieces … it's blue and dark green and shows pearled shines as she moves " like the skin of a mermaid " thinks Kate… oh !! She has to ask her new friend where she got it! It's beautiful … and Kate finds herself thinking on how this dress fits her and how could she manage to have the occasion to be seen by Gibbs dressed in it…and if, by once he would notice she is something more than a NCIS agent under his command. Sometimes she wonders if he forces himself not to look when she shows up around ready to out on one of her Friday night dates. More striking she dress, less he looks … this is certainly strange… she had caught him looking at other women with delight and detected in his darkened blue eyes this spark of lust that makes her shiver inside.

Sedna is walking her way over them, talking friendly to a young man that follows her, Kate recognizes Steve, the guard assigned to the NMMP complex entrance. He looks even more boyish under his Hawaiian shirt. Sedna catches his arm and says something next to his ear, as rolling her eyes over a table in the corner. Steve smiles and hurries his way to the pretty blonde in miniskirt. Sedna walks her way to the bar next to DiNozzo and Kate, landing one hand over the arm of each one and blinks an eye to the pretty bartender who smiles at her: " Hi doc !! " … "_Guiness_, _Ali_…" she says , standing next to DiNozzo , who makes room to her between them, Sedna smiles openly to Kate, who is forgotten of Tony's stupid action and her skirt , uncomfortably wet of _Coke . _She is focused in her friend's wear. "Sedna, this is the coolest dress I've ever seen!! " Di Nozzo nods emphatically… trying desperately to keep his eyes over Sedna's face as she take in hand the tall glass and drinks half of its contain eagerly.

" What a day, guys!!" she sighs , and then smirks as she sees Di Nozzo eyes focused in her mouth as she licks delicately the line of spume that beer left over her upper lip. She decides to distract his thinking.

"Well… Special Agents… think this case is already over??"

As the Senior Agent he is, Tony should answer her question but his mind is still floating over the tanned skin in front of him. Kate takes the hint: "Almost it is …although we could find much more, I think…."

"Probably " . Sedna nods briefly and takes another big sip of beer, this time brushing her upper lip with her hand, still gracefully, avoiding to show up her tongue to DiNozzo again. Then, the doctor change the subject: "I dropped myself at the hospital after my talk with CO Smithers… your boss is doing fine yet deadly bored, I'm afraid. He was surfing channels and seemed resigned to stay there overnight …" and the doctor smiles again trying to comfort Kate. DiNozzo mouth drops open: "You went there into _this__ dress_, doc?? … it should be forbidden !! Not good for the healing rest that our boss needs!! ".

Sedna smirks again. "Don't be idiot, DiNozzo. It hadn't been correct…and besides (her eyes twinkle mischievously) … I wouldn't hide a pair of strong black coffee cups inside this dress!!…" . Now, the three of them laugh releasing the tension. Kate is satisfied… Gibb's coffee supply was one of the worries rounding in her mind just now.

As finishing her beer Sedna changes the topic again: "I had a very long chat with Charles.. _the CO Smithers_ …" she pauses, giving them an uncertain look, mixture of sadness and pride " Well.. He said that the two dead marines are going to be buried in the Navy cemetery at DC. With honors. As well as my Kenny will!!. Ducky….Dr Mallard informed that accordingly with the autopsy findings, Kenny had tried to save the Lt. He interposed his own body to act like a shield…. " And Sedna sighs sadly.

"Well, doc… your dolphin acted like a _hero_ " DiNozzo says, his face by once is serious and concerned, all the boyish mood and playful expression he uses to wear , is gone. Sedna is surprised. Along the last days she had sawn Agent DiNozzo just as a grown child. The last hours being Gibbs afar, he had taken in hands the team leadership, and he had done well , may be she had been wrong and DiNozzo was much more than the simple image he wants to show of himself. Obviously, Gibbs keeps him in his team for something more than his perfect smile and funny remarks.

Sedna smiles again, a little more willingly this time: "By once, Charles surprised me … he acted like the Navy gentleman he always should be….".

Both Agents give her their condolences and comforting words. They know how much she had loved the dolphin. Seeing sadness in the deep of her golden eyes DiNozzo tries to make her mood up. " Doc… would you dance with me??" for his surprise Sedna , after two seconds hesitation, answered affirmative and letting her empty glass on the counter gives him her hand . Before facing their way to the dance floor she leaned over Kate and whispers: " Enjoy yourself…Kate"… and rolls her eyes towards the main entrance door; following her mischievous glance she sees what had made Sedna accept to dance with DiNozzo.

Stolzer had just arrived.


	11. Chapter 11

**Dolphin****Hero: CH 11.**

**A's /n: Okay, guys…. We apologize for the long this Chapter took to be posted. I know that apologizing is a signal of weakness but even tough, we want to explain that we had some tactical problems: Nova's comp needed ICU, and then, I (dolphinsiren) had to travel to Patagonia. No internet, NOT EVEN PHONE there !!! Cells don't work I was in a very secluded and beautiful point… but it is good news !!! I had sometime to work in the chapter 12 !!!... **

**We had decided to do something in order to justify the M rating….nothing ( at least not too much )explicit by now.....**

**Starting just HERE !!!! Hope you enjoy !!!! …**

**Don't forget to feed back us …. We need your reviews to be happy. **

Sedna and DiNozzo walked their way out to the dance floor. No words were exchanged while they walked. DiNozzo kept following one step behind her. They are still lightly connected by her wrist that's enveloped in his gentle hand. She led them, waving and nodding slightly to other couples and one or two officers that smiled to her.

Sedna knew that Tony was practically peering, or shall we say, admiring the lower part of her back and going down audaciously to her butt, she almost could feel his green eyes tickling on the exposed skin at the low hem of her dress.

She felt how the warm hand increased gradually the pressure around her wrist and his middle finger caressed her palm. She had expected him trying to flirt openly with her, even knowing that something was going on with the fair-haired bartender, but she hadn't waited for him to be so quick. The doctor laughed to her insides, the contact was not unpleasant at all…she thought, as his other hand took residence at the small of her back, confident and soft. She can feel the heat radiating from his body over the naked skin of her back .

They reached the side of the dance floor near the wide windows where now, the rapidly darkened beach was displaying its beautiful and peaceful view for them; the shadows were cut by the intermittent brightness of the next lighthouse whitening the crests of the almost flat waves along the coastline. No moonlight, not even the stars are visible, the sky is pretty cloudy.

They turned to look at each other at once and DiNozzo smiled, displaying his best charm for her. He knew that probably "the damn behaviorist" in her was analyzing him and waiting to see until _where_ he was ready to go.

It doesn't matter", he decided. It had been always his tactical approach. If he gets a yes… better. If it is a no, oh well, there are lots of hot women out there and the night has just begun.

The music was too good to be true for DiNozzo's taste; the nostalgic and very old sound of "_The Voice_" filled the air with the first compasses of what he knew was a remixed version containing parts of his main themes: "Strangers in the night", "NY" and "My way" were there. He couldn't help it and started to hum in low voice as rounded her waist with his left arm , moving with her expertly around, holding their hands together against his chest now, looking down at her intently.

She smirked and curved one brow delicately: "Never thought you were such a damn good dancer, DiNozzo, and I'd never believed that you could like Sinatra…like my dad used to.. …you didn't appear to me like the "Sinatra guy" type. I thought you would like the "old" singers less and be into pop and R & B"

"Sinatra is never going to be called _old_, doc! It's just like John Wayne movies and ice cream. They are ageless"

Sedna looked disoriented with the comparison: "Ice cream???"

The Italian _maffioso_ wanna-be laughed. "Yeah, doc…ice cream!! You know that it was created by old Romans, my ancestors…and we all still adored it all around the world!"

She nodded, faintly amused. "You are right, DiNozz…"

"Please, call me Tony… all my friends does it"

"Okay then, "Tony", although our mutual friend Kate isn't too friendly, calling for names…sometimes"

"Well… doc, she may be a bit sensitive…sometimes, but she likes me, trust me, by the way…" for a moment he remembers as he rapidly surveyed the surroundings, not being able to see traces of Kate. Where the hell is she?

Sedna smirked again, "You let women distract you, DiNozzo, not good…not very good at all for an NCIS agent" she teased him.

"I'm sure_ those handsome, blue-eyed, head-slapping boss of yours, _never, _ever, __…__even if he had been dancing with me…_" She slipped these words with an obvious tone of seduction

"Would have missed the moment she left the room, with Stolzer". Sedna knows that the bottom line is - _Gibbs can not be distracted with women._

The news drop like a head slap over him. He looked around again in disbelief: "What?!? You sure, doc? Oh shit!!! He…the boss…Gibbs - is going to kill me."

Sedna kept looking him in the eye. "Don't you think Kate is an adult? A woman? DiNozzo? I am sure she is able to take care of herself very well."

Tony averted his eyes from her playful scrutiny and turned around searching furiously the surroundings, noting that his partner is not around. "Oh man" he thought "… Gibbs is not just going to head slapping me, this time he'll make hamburgers out of my liver and salami with my guts and … holy he could easily screw my… awww!! Why Kate? Why among all the damn men in this base, it had to be Stolzer? "Kate! You are going to pay if Gibbs blames me "He hisses in anger and panic. The word "if" is hopeless; Tony damn well knows that Gibbs _will _blame him.

"Easy Tony…relax, boy, don't treat her as if she is your little sister, she wouldn't like it and neither do I. Just relax and finish the dance". She increased the grip on his wrist and move down their joined hands placing them at the curve of her hip and pressed her body close too him.

Apart from enjoying Tony's company and attention, Sedna was playing her cards and buying some time for Kate to play hers. If Kate had decided to try her luck with Stolzer, she respected that choice. Sedna knows that her new friend was trying to deny her true feelings towards her nice_ blue-eyed_ boss_._ And hell, maybe Stolzer´s special treatment would help to shake her back to the reality… or not.

She had witnessed Stolzer embracing Kate seductively, and the woman had gone along with. Actually, few minutes before she guided DiNozzo away, she saw Kate making out with the veteran SEAL's captain. Sedna was pretty sure that the reason the captain swept her away from the public eyes to a more secluded place because things just got too hot to handle. The captain is not the type of person who beats around the bush. He knows what he wants when he sees it and he knows how to get it.

Besides, she was feeling good. DiNozzo was certainly an attractive guy, she was missing to be with a man, and it has been a while since she had broke up with Charles, who is also a jerk.

The base is a "small world" and she cannot behave in a way that would give place to the gossips that naval people likes so much. Although she has lots of friends among the staff and officers none of them had slept with her except Charles, not that they hadn't try to, but her position was difficult enough and she didn't want to add conflictive elements to her already hard job.

Sedna felt safe with this situation, DiNozzo was an outsider here, and mostly in a couple of days, he was going to be back across the country, so - why not to take a bit of fun? He is a gentle, good looking and healthy boy and the most important he is not afraid of her, like so many of the petty officers seem to be. Of course, Tony had had a good training with Gibbs about _how to get over intimidating personalities._

DiNozzo had expected nothing but a gentle dance with the sexy doctor and the sudden change in her attitude amazed, intrigued and started to turn him on, in fast progression. He looked her in the eye, becoming suddenly conscious of her sweet perfume and wet parted lips. She doesn't use lipstick (he really likes women who don't, he hates that sticky and many times distasting feminine obsession) and her lips were naturally dark peach and wet. Tony focused his eyes on her relaxed mouth, all previous thoughts about his unpredictable partner flying by the window, and presses her even closer.

He can feel her hard abs against his own and the sensation is thrilling and exciting. Against Kate's opinion, that he only has a thing for "Barbies". He is also attracted by the hard ass women that Sedna is. The main problem is, in general terms that they don't use to feel the same for him. This could be the exception to the rule; a very promising exception.

Sedna was surprised, she felt surprisingly good and relaxed in his arms. The last past hours, she had started to perceive a very different and very mature side in the usually boyish DiNozzo. Not being around his dominating boss, he had taken the whole crap situation in his hands and the subjacent and well-trained cop had emerged from somewhere.

He had been efficient and sharp; he was much more than the clown of the team that he usually played to. On the other hand, Kate had been surprisingly docile and silent. What a hell was going with her? Sedna wonders. Apparently, the explosion and its possible consequences had shaken her badly.

Sedna had perceived that once Kate had seen that Gibbs was okay she had felt extremely alleviated at first, but this feeling had been replaced within the hours by some different and weird, and her face had reflected a feeling of deep sadness with a touch of rage. Oh yeah! She was so easy to read.

Gibbs on the contrary, had put his usual steel mask over his face. But Sedna knew what was happening under the surface. She had purposely named Kate during the conversation they had held at his hospital room, and she had caught the spark that had flashed for a split second but how intensely… into those amazing blue eyes.

DiNozzo´s voice brought her back, he was glancing down at her intently, and his tone was certainly as much caressing as his hands over the naked skin of her lower back, his thumb following down the hollow at the end of her spine.

"You very beautiful, doc. Do you know it? ".

She chuckled and threw her hair back her shoulders with a slow motion of her neck; letting exposed its long curve to his eager eye. She could feel his breath increasing and his green eyes got darkened. She felt the awaited reaction of his lower body pressed to her and her heart rate sped even higher. He was so easy…. so predictable… so… _young, so good_.

It was exhilarating and satisfying in a bizarre way, the fact that she was in the arms of a man who doesn't fake, who doesn't play the cat mouse game with her, who wanted her and doesn't beat around the bush, a man who has no problem expressing his sexuality, who is not afraid to tell that he wants her.

She remembered her teen's… it was a good sensation. Besides, being Tony almost one decade younger than her, it made her feel good to know she was so much attractive to a younger man.

He cornered her to one of the wide windows at the shadowed angle of the room and his head descended over hers, till his open lips grazed the soft skin at the side of her neck, she gasped and arched her body the most that she could against the window, the contrast of the cold glass surface on her back and the heat of his body front drove her crazy, and somewhat surprised, Sedna found herself responding openly and passionate to his caressing lips.

She twisted lightly and set one of her legs between his, one of her hands grabbing hard the flesh at the side of his waist and sending a flush of blood directly to his groin (hell, she is fast! he thought) while her other hand got entangled at the short hair of his nape their mouths collided at their own accord, no preambles of a kiss, tongues dueling wildly.

She tasted of Guinness beer, a bit bittersweet and rough, he tasted of tequila and his strong and intense flavor. Was DiNozzo who had to break the kiss due to the lack of oxygen (damn diver, holding breath is one of her forte) before they parted, he felt her little teeth biting sharply at his inner upper lip and he growled.

She laughed, her eyes shinning mischievously: "Beware, DiNozzo… I could be as dangerous as a white shark", she warns him sexily.

But she was still leaning against him, all her body language contradicting her voiced threat, her leg still pushing up gentle but firmly insisting between his. Oh God…how much he wanted her, right here and now.

He is sure she couldn't reach this point if she wouldn't feel the same so, why not now and here? …Outside the pub, the beach seemed to be warm and lonely darkened, and this would not be the first time that he made love at scenery like this, with the whispering waves as fond sound. She barely could refuse, he was pretty sure she was as much aroused as he was.

He stood straight up, his hands resting at her shoulders " Doc… we could get out of here, what do you think of ... (he nodded towards the beach) a little walk over the sand and…Then we …"

Both looked outside at the same time that the intermittent and powerful bright light coming from the lighthouse brushed the darkened surroundings, and they saw for a moment a couple near the window. They were making out there, no doubts at all.

The woman was petite framed and her pale top was by a second, a spot of clarity in the middle of the darkness. The man, remained almost invisible, but DiNozzo identified his unmistakable bulk, his short almost shaved hair was like a blond brush crowning his head. Tony clenched his teeth and his fingertips curved slightly over Sedna´s shoulders.

"Kate and Stolzer! Oh, crap!!!! I never had thought they could be so fast. Damn!"

Sedna released a sigh and brushed back her disheveled hair, looking at his restrained fury, unperturbedly.

"And _what if _DiNozzo??? Didn't you perceived that we were doing the same a second before?

We are adults… so they are, you are not her big brother, and then why are you so pissed off about it?"

"Ha!! Doc" He messed in his short hair in frustration. "You don't know Gibbs!! He will chew my head off me in a sharp second!"

"DiNozzo, he is NOT here!"

"Oh!! Sure he's not. You are underestimating his skills…I'm pretty sure he will know, and this would be the death of me. I have to stop them!!"

Of course it was not just about discipline or some crappy military rule of the Boss… it was personal, Sedna is sure now that DiNozzo knows something and he had read through the ice blue eyes as much as herself. The fact confirmed her suspicions…and Sedna thought that obviously men read each other better than women could do. But her first appreciation had been right: " blue eyes falls for Kate" and DiNozzo knows…

While talking, DiNozzo was making his way to the next exit door, completely forgotten of his need for her. Sedna followed him walking a step behind nonchalantly…thinking that fear was more powerful over desire. She was not able to stop him, but she was not going to be involved in whatever was the course of action that DiNozzo could have in mind.

TBC…..


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**A/n: It has been a while ( again) we know… but the story is becoming a challenge for us… is not easy to develop the OFC not going out of the KIBBS context. We really hope it's not happening with our story… open your minds please and be ready to face their reality, life is not always simple … that was what we want to show. **

**Don´t hesitate , let´s now what you think. And don´t worry , this is going to be very KIBBS soon… meanwhile.. see what are doing the other heroes of this story. ****Enjoy it !!!! **

Sedna walks along the beach, surroundings are enveloped by an intense silence. Silence and darkness that receive her gladly, giving her their protective cover; the pearly skin of her dress is nearly invisible in the camouflage of the surrounding shadows. She walks slowly, however resolutely, feeling the fresh sand crunching under her bare feet, her strip sandals are now tied together, hanging from her neck.

Sedna curses herself. It is not usual for her to be unfocused, is not usual for her to feel regrets about anything…but for once, she does.

Why the hell had she kissed DiNozzo against all her previous ideas?

What damn thing was she trying to demonstrate and to whom?

To DiNozzo?

To herself?

Damn it. Sedna recalls the last minutes events…

She had followed DiNozzo outside the pub, just to find that Kate and Stolzer had moved away from the corner where they had saw them trough the window, no doubts they had seen them peeking, and Stolzer was fast.

Knowing him, Sedna knew that the SEAL Captain was not going to risk a confrontation with DiNozzo, it would endanger his opportunity with Kate this night and he _wants_ to be with her. So, the strategy had been to avoid the whole situation, but DiNozzo was not giving up.

He had run around the build and surprised them, they were already on the Jeep that Stolzer had parked there and just about to leave … The bright lights washed over DiNozzo's features when he had intercepted them facing the car , slamming both hands over the motor cover , he yelled "Kate! What the hell are-?"

"What are _you_ doing, Tony! Leave me alone! (She is fuming mad) "You have no rights to control my life! It's after work hours!!! Get out of here… _now_!!!

Her voice was heightened with rage but she stayed still inside the car, confirming what Sedna had thought, she was going to leave with Stolzer anyway, no matter what DiNozzo said.

DiNozzo had thumped his fists against the car, matching her tone to say: "And how it's supposed that I'm going to explain all these …lack of common sense to the Boss uh? He will kill me, Kate!!! "

DiNozzo's answer only pissed her off even more:

"What the hell are you talking about?!? Gibbs is our boss is not our father! I don't have to tell him whom I am gonna sleep with! We don't- I don't need his approval. What is wrong with you Tony!?!" Kate blurts out everything before she has time to think what's coming out form her mouth. Then she closes her eyes in regret. Shit shit shit shit…what did I say? What the hell did I say? Did I say 'I don't have to tell him who I am gonna sleep with…" Oh no.

Stolzer had kept silence along the whole incident; obviously he was letting Kate to handle her partner, avoiding to get involve in anything that DiNozzo could allege afterward about his behavior. A smile breaks from his face, is that means she is going to sleep with him?

"Smart guy" Sedna had thought. Oh no Kate, your rage is diluting your mind. I only hope you are not sleeping with the guy only to prove yourself that you are not. …falling in love with your blue eyed boss.

Kate had snorted, and yelled back, it's too late to rectify anything. "I don't care Tony!!! I don't care about your pathetic _arses_! … _you and Gibbs can go to fucking hell together!!!"_

DiNozzo startled this time - it was not suitable for the _well educated_ Kate to use this kind of language, she was obviously very "_very" _pissed.

That had been the moment that Stolzer had chosen to put the car in reverse and drive away… out of DiNozzo´s reach and a few seconds later, Kate and Stolzer were just the car engine in the night.

DiNozzo stayed still there, openmouthed - dumbfounded for a long moment. He couldn't understand. Kate was pissed at him, that much was clear it was nothing much different from everyday. But Gibbs? _Why__ Gibbs_?

Crazy women, all them illogical and silly - what had Gibbs done to upset her so much? And _when _had he done it? The last time they had been together was at hospital…hours before…

DiNozzo recreated in his mind the moment that the Commander Doctor had suggested one of them to stay with Gibbs overnight and the boss had refused gruffly - yes. "Yes" that ´s it … that is what had pissed her off, nobody would understand why.

DiNozzo went back to reality and scratched his head under the knowing glace Sedna was giving him. The doctor stood in front of him, half worried half amused.

"Well… DiNozzo, you really know how to screw a good moment up, don't you?" She said, and then with a resigned sigh she had added: "Let's go back to the bar, get our last drink and then, I should go to secure my boat…storm is coming.

DiNozzo lowered his head and followed her to the welcoming pub; the lights and noises were a better-known world. They had had a latest beer and Tequila and then Sedna had left. She gave a last glance over her own shoulder; he was smiling to the blonde bartender.

"Good luck "she thinks.

Sedna recalls all that had happened as walking along the darkened beach, all is silence around… she steps over the wet sand, feeling the rough texture under her feet. She walks slowly, enjoying the fresh and dusty sensation, her step guide her by it own and she noticed that she had got at the southern end of the deck She cannot see the silhouette of the _Dolphinsiren_ but her navigation lights are easily recognized, she walks along the coast looking for her ship.

All is darkness and peace, although it's an odd peace, the silence contains a menacing quality: the core of silence is a resounding box, magnifying the sounds around, even the most tiny of them are perfectly perceived, echoing is the quietness that precedes the storm, well known by sailors of all times.

Even though she is not worried; Sedna knows she has time enough to enter the harbor and tie up her ship properly. In the mess the base had been immersed into; nobody had remembered the _Dolphinsiren_, precariously anchored out of the harbor. Nobody had given a look to the damn forecast from early in the morning; the coming storm _has already been predicted._

Sedna curses again: "Not good for you, Captain…to put this aside. Your ship is much more than your responsibility. Is part of _you _…how could you forget her?... Shame on you"

Suddenly her trail of thought is cut off; she had the sensation of being watched. She turned around, surveying the darkness, stops her walking and hearing sharply at time she used her peripheral vision to improve her perception in darkness. Nothing she could see out there. No movements, no noises, probably it is her mind playing tricks on her. She trembled, as her feet touch the water, maybe is the coming storm what makes her feel oversensitive. Her skin tinkles with some kind of electricity, damn it! She knows what's wrong with her…

Why? Why did she kiss DiNozzo despite all her reservations? Why had she accepted and even encouraged his advances? .

What had started as a strategy to help Kate make her move, but had turned unmanageable…she had succumbed to his closeness and her body had responding by itself to him… the warmth of his palm was still at the end of her spine, his breath on her neck and the taste of his mouth into hers, overpowering the bitter taste of beer.

She knows now why she had kissed DiNozzo against her previous preventions… it was nothing more the most natural impulse emerging from the sea of adrenaline that all this damn day had been. It was her body trying to affirm itself in the present life at the close view of the face of death, it was a normal physiological reaction, yes, but still, she hates herself for being so predictable and human… the behaviorist can't help surrender to the ancient mechanisms off evolution and survive ness, that was certainly funny… funny and sad. But after all, why in hell should she fight against this kind of feelings … in the name of whom? The men who had left this world, left her alone? …These are feelings that positioned her into the real life… the life of every woman on earth… every female on earth .She needs a man –is that simple.

No, actually it's not. Correction, her body needs a man, not her. Her skin wants to feel warm skin. Sedna clenched her jaw, fighting away the tears that her eyes burn to release without permission. The face of Charles comes to the screen of her mind, he appears babbling in his own style admonishing her by the distraction about the Dolphinsiren, and this time he would be right.

Charles had been a mistake, when her healthy skin wanted to feel a male skin…he was handsome, he was a good man at least, but he is not what she had expected.

The motorboat was there. She untied the rope and walked into the water to reach it. The lower of her dressed graze the water but she doesn't care of. It was the old sea…her friend, her enemy… her Godfather.

The same moment that her hands touch the rubber of the boat, her sadness finally emerges from the deepest of her soul where she had fought to keep it silent and hidden, and one lonely tear touches the surface of the sea, the saline drop of her heart joins the salty immensity of the ocean.

"Dan…. John…. I still miss you "she said in a very sad voice. " It's not fair play, God…." She thinks narrowing her eyes to the invisible sky…

" Why Dan… why John…. why Kenny … are we paying for each sin on earth or what? … You must have a plan for us… God, otherwise my whole life is empty of meaning... I had thought before that I was making difference… what I'm doing wrong? Would you tell me God? … Please? "….

Her own voice surprises her… she didn't know she had spoken aloud.

Suddenly she was conscious of the weird sensation that she had felt before. Someone else is close to her… she feels a presence… there is someone else out there, may be had been this odd perception that conduced her to speak to God. Was she becoming paranoid or what? She stands there… her still wet eyes brushing the darkness… nothing. But the feeling is still strong.

"Oh…you are going nuts, Sedna!...just keep yourself focused on what you have to do now! "

She steps over the boat and planting firmly her feet apart over the wet bottom she bends down and positions the motor into the water, the light boat oscillates as she pulls the ignition cord out.

Nothing happens.

She tries again and again.

And once more. Nothing.

"This is the last thing expected… the fucking end of a fucking day …"

She tried again, with anger this time, and kicked the damn motor with her bare foot. " Ouch, Shit! It hurts" …A fast survey of the bottom let her know that some idiot had forgotten the oars onboard the _Dolphinsiren_, so not any chance to make it rowing_._

She is seriously considering peeling her dress off and made it swimming when suddenly the boat shakes dangerously under the weight of an unexpected intruder.

**A/n : please R/R.**


	13. Chapter 13

DOLPHIN HERO

Chapter 13

She jumped up onto her feet breathing hard, keeping her balance over the wet bottom of the oscillating boat as her body tenses and adopts a defensive position, cursing between her teeth that the only thing that she would use as a weapon is the heel of her sandal… still suspended from her neck. Her eyes drill the darkness in front of her and instantly she relaxes with a deep sigh.

She had recognized the bulk and the nice characteristic smell, mixture of coffee and himself, of the last person she had expected to come over there.

"It's _you!!! _Damn it Gibbs!! You scared the hell out of me!!! What are you doing here? It supposed you were at hospital…overnight!"

He just chuckled as sort of answer and got closer, gets her to one side with firm but gentle hand and takes the motor starter cord in his other. At his first try, the motor lets out a cough and two or three pops of indecisiveness, and finally sets itself in a low and regular roaring.

Sedna snorted and thanks as he smirks somewhat satisfied and to ask her nonchalantly.

"Where are you going, doc? Are you still evading DiNozzo, or just …"

She jumps slightly at the mention of the younger agent name "How in hell could he..." Shaking her head, she took her place and guided the boat into an ample curve towards the "Dolphinsiren".

"By the way… Gibbs (she speaks aloud to be heard over the motor) I wonder where are _you _going to? And what do you want?"

"With you, doc"

"I'm going to get the _Dolphinsiren _safe, tied properly at the marina" she looks around,

" A Storm is coming, one they hadn't seen in the harbor earlier…and they placed boat outside the marina…anchored ; this is not an ideal situation, you know…."

"Ok, so…allow me to give you some help at this and then we can get a good black coffee…."

Sedna laughs openly, her laugh echoing clearly distinctive over the now lowering sound of the motorboat, as she maneuvers to align the rubber boat aside the _Dolphinsiren. _Slowing expertly she switch off with a last small curve positioned the rubber boat almost grazing the dark silhouette of her vessel and approaching to the scale Sedna climbs easily onboard , she catches the rope that Gibbs threw to her and- the first things first- she handles him the slings to attach the rubber boat ready to be hoisted .

"No coffee for me at nights Gibbs…remember, I would have insomnia, but I think I have some good very old bourbon onboard… if you want it. "

"Nothing in the world could stop me, doc…. ", he smirks in the darkness and Sedna surprises at how he is suddenly at her side, how silently he had climbed onboard.

" Once a Marine, always marine". Sedna thinks.

At the diffuse light coming from the navigation lights, Gibbs and Sedna had hoisted and tied the rubber boat quickly, and then they proceed over the bridge that Sedna had lighten up properly touching something in the darkness on their way to. She could sail her boat eyes closed, Gibbs thinks, and he dreams himself doing the same in his own boat someday.

As she moves across the bridge he stares at her, her wet dress makes her look like a mermaid and her messy hair is brushing her tanned back dangerously exposed to its end for the masculine sight. She is speaking to the harbor operation center trough the communication sys or whatever they called the damn complicated digital panel she has there, nothing to see with the traditional radios he is accustomed to handle. There are one image that must be the sonar sys … this is the only thing recognizable in the mess that could be a videogames keyboard to him.

"… Give us a couple of minutes Sedna," the operator was saying her, "We are plenty of vessels and we are moving some of them around. 'm giving you priority to access in fifteen minutes and you could have your usual site … I'll call you. Easy doc, we have enough time before the wind turns it hard…"

She sighs, gives him an ok and pushes the button, letting the com open, green light blinking. Then she rubs her tired eyes and stares at him.

"So… Agent Gibbs it seems we'll have some bourbon time, after all"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stolzer had driven silently, getting them far from the pub and DiNozzo´s rage. He had kept his eyes on the darkened road avoiding intently the brown velvet eyes. He was taking time to get his heartbeat down and clarify his mind. He doesn't want to give a wrong step and ruin the whole thing.

He wants more than one night stand with this angelic creature that sleeps with a gun under her pillow. He never felt like this before with any women and he had known many along his adult life and long trips.

Ultimately, after his beloved mother had passed away last year, he had started to feel alone, after all. He had taken care of her, much more than his older sisters had, and now that his caring love for his mother had gone to the end , he needs to give himself to another person, to dedicate himself to another person

Maybe it was his biological clock calling? Do men have a biological clock? Or it was an invention of the cheesy fem magazines her mother had liked so much? He doesn't know. He just knows that his approach to women had changed. He doesn't want inconsequent relationships anymore. He wants a good woman, he wants a family. Maybe it was his Bavarian roots emerging from somewhere.

What his crew would think of their stoic leader if they had known that his captain dreams about a big Christmas table and many boots hanging from the front of the fireplace? He is going to do forty-three next month and had been thinking about this money- suitable teaching position that had been offered to him.

He is still young to leave the active service, but…what a hell!!! A wife needs her husband and children need their father at home, not deployed at the crappy confines of earth.

He knows and familiar with the pain it may caused, How many times he found his men getting drunk after a mission, nursing their broken heart when they found their wife run off with some other men – loneliness is the word. Their wife could not bear living in fear and loneliness. When they are on a mission, they'll be lucky if they can get in touch with their family once a week or even a fortnight.

So Stolzer had been thinking deeply about all that. He is not going to make the same mistake. Over the years he has harden his heard and concentrate on his career – his main concern, his main focus are his mission and delivering his men home – safe.

Now, after all that, the only thing was he hadn't had a good woman to live with. But then, this brunette angel had arrived.

He ignored almost everything about her…but he had known some important things: She was pretty and intelligent , she makes his heart beating crazy, she was a good catholic as well as he was; besides, she had received his attentions willingly, then he is pretty sure she likes him…physically speaking. She couldn't certainly to picture how serious his intentions would be, but she is going to discover it soon. He wants to make it clear that he wasn't gonna to take it lightly. He is not a one night stand person anymore, and hope she wasn't too.

A deep sigh from his right makes him to pull his eyes off the road briefly, just a glance and his heartbeat rises up. She looks so beautiful.

Kate thinks furiously under her relaxed appearance. She's still amused about her own words about "sleeping with". What in a hell had pushed her to say that, for God's sake? It was been the fury, yes but… against whom? Against DiNozzo?

No, It´s not Tony ….she knows it more than well. She had been in a frenzy kissing and making out with Stolzer and enjoyed it….and, she had not have a drink, she barely could blame the alcohol for it, no.

Ok, she has to admit he was a strong and good looking guy. Just the type she likes…tall and bulky, green eyes and perfect profile. She doesn't understand why he is not already marriage, maybe he is divorced? No, he isn't. He has been busy with his own career as well as she was to think in something else. And he was good at his job, just to see that doggy gaze of adoration his men give to him lying under their respect and obedience.

It was about this "marine thing "she was learning to understand by know. And she wonders if Gibbs had got this kind of looks from his men at his times as gunnery Sergeant . Surely he had. Kate remembers all the times she surprised when looking at him speaking with his former superiors or members of his crew.

Everybody adores him to pieces, which is pretty weird taking in account that the man uses to be gruffly and infuriating most of the time. But she has to recognize to, that these rare moments in which he smiles warmly or gives one of his more or less subtle compliments makes you melt to honey at his feet.

But after all… what a hell is she doing thinking on Gibbs now that she is in the one good looking guy going to who knows where, to do Geez knows what? Why she has to think about her pretty eyes boss now…? She is going to take thinks as they come, and see. It was clear that her big crush with Gibbs was not going anywhere and was just a mammoth fantasy. Kate wants a life, wants a family and a loving man, not a loner sanding a boat in the basement for the eternity for God's sake … Okay so, she'll take the thing as it comes tonight – come what may, Kate thought..

And Kate risks a glance to her left again, this time with a smile.

TBC.

Thanks to Michelle, our beta... ( she likes this chapter... and we wish you do too !!!)

**A´s / n** : Ok... we are approaching finally to the end of this story, but... the hardest part is starting rigth here... Gibbs and Kate have to change their minds to accept them together as a real possibility... and they need some help to do that...

Please, keep reading and reviewing.....

Dolphinsiren-Novasupernova


	14. Chapter 14

THE DOLPHIN HERO

Chapter 14

**A/n: Hi to you all … our patient and devote readers !!.. **

**Finally we are approaching to the end of our story, this chapter and the next two are about what's going on with Gibbs and Kate (separately, by now) .They will have to find themselves before finding each other… and there are two characters ready to help them up in the process… you guess, yep!!!… They are Sedna, and Stolzer. **

**Please, R& R and remember… we love to get reviews and suggestions. Even when the story is almost done, we ´d like to know what do you think: Would you like to read some hot scenes **_**before**_** Kate and Gibbs get together? … I mean… they are going to live their short stories this night: Gibbs is just spending some time in Sedna´s companion. He likes her strength and sense of humor. From his last divorce he is used to have light relationships, no strings attached. **

**But Kate, this is a quite different story. She is trying desperately to find someone that make her to forget her impossible crush with her impossible boss… find someone to spend her life with. Has the blond SEAL an opportunity with her? **

"Well…."

Sedna sighed and tried to get her messy hair tied, forming a thick roll and fixing a loose chignon behind her left ear. She kept her eyes off him while doing her hair, looking to the darkness outside the window, trying to calculate how much time they have before the tempest would discharge its fury over them. At any rate, they have to wait till the harbor guys ring their bell. A sip of bourbon wouldn't hurt in between.

"Let's go to my cabin then…we can receive the call there…."

And Sedna made her way beneath the deck. Gibbs followed her closely trying to make his steps shorter so as not to bump into her at some point of their way to the cozy core of the boat that he had came to know and appreciate during the long of the nights he had slept there.

Sedna could feel his eyes up and down her bare back as they walk and the feeling was peculiarly strong. She felt the hair of her neck tingling.

_Why does he have this power over me? And if it's not my own creation, where is this sudden… "desire" , coming from? Is it really him wanting me?... Or maybe it is just me, projecting my own feelings of loneliness…._

She cursed herself, hadn't been enough the experience with DiNozzo? What's going wrong with her?... Besides… what was he doing there?

Why did he seem to almost _materialize_ in front of her when he had promised to stay at hospital overnight?.

Suddenly, the unspoken questions come in, yelling at her as though it were a horde of people.

_Had he gone after his team, after all? _

_Maybe he went after Kate and had seen her with Stolzer … if that was the case, why he wasn't in a rage? …Or perhaps he was, and coming to her was a kind of fruitless_ _revenge_….

"_Fruitless…." ha!!! … You should upgrade the concept about yourself, Sedna…_ she thinks. _And what if he had seen she and DiNozzo kissing ?._

Well… she had to accept that that scene could be a sort of … well, not properly _hot thing _… but she had gone afar from the behavior she should have had there, where almost everyone knew her.

"_Damnit Gibbs…I hate to be such transparent to someone … but well, we can talk and may be we can stop beating around the bush… __You pretending I don't know anything and you doing the same about me …_ _b__ut if that's the case and you really know and you saw Kate making out with Stolzer… why you are not affected? … may be he was… he was so good at disguising his emotions … because , what was he doing here, anyway…?... What was he going to do with her… was he looking for a friendly companion and some bourbon… or it was about something more ?... Not I wouldn't like to sleep with you… marine…"_

"You have the perfect place in here… do you know that, doc?"

His voice sounds smooth and low in the limited space of the wooden walls, has a smooth and caressing quality underlying the tone.

"Don't call me " doc" again… or…"

He smirks and stands at his full height towering her….

"Or…"

"Or I'll regret to had offered you Bourbon… Gibbs….".

"It's ' Jethro'"…

"Jethro …"

She repeats the strong name whispering, almost reverently. She knows that no much people should be allowed to call him by his given name.

"A very uncommon name for a not common man…. It means "_friend of God_" … but you surely know that …"

"I knew, yeah… and speaking about names… Sedna is not the name that you could hear everyday too…"

She laughs openly now.

"Is not…. It was given to me after the name of the Eskimo goddess… 'Sedna' is their queen of the deep seas and seals… my father was an anthropologist…. he worked around the polar circle and Greenland …so, he named me after her" , Sedna explains.

"And he was right , and wrong."

"Wrong?" She repeated arching her eyebrow… "in what way?"

"You look like a goddess, yes… but not just for the Eskimos…"

She mirrors his smirk.

"Are you flirting with me… Jethro?"

He blinks innocently, his gleaming blue eyes showing her that the hard ass marine was in his best flirting mood despite his next words.

" Flirting? Me? Nah… I just saying the whole truth"

She really was enjoying all this, enjoying having him there, his companionship, the teasing….and why not, the man himself.

She opened a small oak cabinet and took a beautiful carved crystal bottle filled with a dark amber liquid; she got a pair of heavy crystal glasses as well, and put it all in front of him.

" Feel home….".

He nodded , a ghost of a smile curving his lips, he grab the heavy bottle that seemed to be smaller in his big hand and poured a double shot for him and then, poured slowly the amber aromatic liquid for her to stop him: Sedna straight her palm up.

"Ok for me…. _Jethro…_Bourbon is not my thing….and I need to be sober enough till have her safe into the harbor …"

He touches his glass with hers, which ´s still over the table, sips and nods approvingly.

"For not being your thing, this is a hell of a Bourbon… _Sedna._"

"John liked it…. he liked to drink it while putting his field notes in order… he had filled this bottle himself… and then…."

Gibbs keeps looking at her with a knowing face .She had her eyes fixed on the fine design of the crystal and suddenly had felt his eyes on her and looked up his face, into his deep blue eyes finding… sadness and unexpected tenderness into them.

He speaks in a whisper more for himself .

"Yeah… I know… I keep some of her toys in the attic…still."

He stopped talking then, not knowing why he allowed himself to say that. Sedna was looking directly into his eyes now, expecting for him to finish the sentence… but he didn't, averting his eyes instead, he shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"It doesn't matter". and he took another sip of his drink.

Sedna took her glass, and caressing the cold and smooth surface asked him in a quiet voice:

"Do you want to speak ab…"

His abrupt "nope" didn't surprise her… maybe they were going into delicate matter that would be better to avoid for now.

"Ok… Jethro, please forgive me, I wasn't trying to invade your privacy or something… I just thought that you wanted to share …"

" Nothing to be forgiven… and no, I don't want to share .. don't feel bad… the problem is not you… but me. "

She nods.

"Don't worry… I'm somewhat familiar with your feelings Jethro…."

She sips, blowing a little gasp at the sharp taste.

"Strong thing you like…."

He smiles, a brilliant sparkle shinning at the bottom of his eyes.

" Strong´s better…"

She couldn't help but laughing at that. His words could be taken in so much different ways…he is a very uncommon man. There is much more than a gruffly temper under his well built appearance she decides.

Sedna repeats his last words:

"Yeah… so, … strong is better. This is for John … and Kenny … and for you… thank you…to all of you, Jethro." And with it, she engulfs down her throat the pungent liquid that still remains in her glass, blinking and wrinkling her nose at the burning sensation down her chest.

"Oh my God" , she gasps " I'm a beer girl ya know? "…

He smiles, quietly. Sedna wonders if he knows about what his little brunette would be doing just now. She is not going to tell him, anyway… Kate has her rights and she is respecting her privacy at this point… after all, sex is nothing more than sex… if it'd grow to b love… well, this would be a problem…

They drink together for a while, in a tacit accorded silence. None of them voicing the questions they have in mind. They were similarly private persons with this old fashioned sense of honor and proud, she was not going to pester him with her own story and neither was he.

Having finished her drink, she took his glass that had been refilled at some moment, sipping from it. They share the glass and refused to share their feelings with each other and time goes by…the effects of bourbon overpowering her mind rapidly, summoned up with the exertion of the hard day they had had. Sedna blinks sleepily… surely he was rested a bit at hospital before run away, he looks fresh and relaxed… but she had been moving no stop and the bourbon in an empty stomach had made her body starts its own protest. He shot her a playful look.

"Are you going drunk?...may be you need a doctor , doc….."

This worked and Sedna laughed again.

"No… coffee will be enough… coffee and some scrambled eggs may be…"

She works efficiently and fast, and soon, the nice smell of toasts and scrambled eggs, fills the cabin, coming in join with the spell of the fresh strong coffee.

They sit and eat eagerly… Gibbs notes that she had used spices and may be some cream to cook the eggs… they are superb. And the coffee… well, no enough words for it.

When no ….of food rest on the table she sigh contently.

"I feel much better now… artic tribes say that food replaces sleep you know?"

"I didn't know… but have experienced the feeling before; by the way…good cooking… _doc_."

"Well… fast and tasty cooking is a must when sailing…. I learnt very young … I used to sail a lot along the arctic waters with my father…( her voice had got unexpectedly dreamy and soft as she remembers) He used to lean his six feet two inches against the partition and peeled his lighter and one of his stinky cigars before going upstairs… and he used to say at this moment …. " Good cooking, _boy" _. She laughs… "He always called me _boy_ when I did things well… such a chauvinist. Even tough, he taught me things as if I had been a boy... I mean…sailing, diving, fishing… firing a gun, harpoons and bows…he was really great and I still miss him a lot.

"Did he teach you how to _dance…, 'Doc'… _It seems to me that you don't do that like a " boy."

His voice was dangerously low and still soft. And it took ten seconds for her to process the real meaning of his last words. " _Damn it !!! he had seen them early…..and the remaining question was if he had seen Kate and Stolzer too …damn it…of course he did". _

_TBC._

A/n: Waiting for your reviews and suggestions… and please, answer the question: Would you like it turns into a hot night for them with their occasional partners…????

Next chapters and already done, but we could keep it smooth or get the "decibels" higher . It´s up to you!!!!


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